TEXT: Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The 13 Colonies 
  It is said that a Frenchman once 
  observed that the colonies were 
  like a barrel of beer: froth on the 
  top, dregs at the bottom, but clear 
  and sound in the middle. Whether 
  that's true is, of course, a matter 
  of opinion, but the three different 
  sections of the colonies each 
  have a distinctive and unique 
  flavor and character. 
   
  Unlike Today 
  The Dream's United States boasts 
  a strong federal government and 
  a sense of national-identity across 
  all of her 50 states. In the world of 
  the 13 Colonies this is far less 
  true. Most people feel fidelity to 
  their colony first and foremost and 
  their nation second (although 
  those in the Federal Government, 
  the Continental Congress, see it 
  differently). 
   
  The Big Picture 
  The overview looks like this: 
  heavy industry in the Middle and 
  North, agriculture in the South. 
  There are railways and highways 
  that run through each of the 
  colonies (and for premium air-
  travel there are zeppelins). The 
  colonies are wired for telephone, telegram, and radio: there is no television. However, programs 
  tend to be very regional: programming that teenagers enjoy in the Middle would be banned in the 
  North and considered vulgar in the South. Mass media, with the exception of the New York Times, 
  the Wall Street Journal (for financial matters), and the Philadelphia Herald have yet to really catch 
  on across the states. 
   
  The seat of government isn't in Maryland but Pennsylvania and while there is a President of the 
  Continental Congress (also called the Colonial Congress) he (and there's a long way from being a 
  she) isn't exactly the President of the United States. 
   
  The Federal Government has an Army, a Navy, and an Air Force (which, even in the 20th and 21st 
  century is considered fledgling). They collect taxes, conduct diplomatic relations, control the mail 
  and maintain the highways. If a state (or group) tries to leave, a majority of the other states can 
  declare war to prevent succession. On the local level, however, rights and laws are very much a 
  matter of the colonial community that has created them.  In the North, a man living with a woman he 
  isn't married to is a crime (which seems nonsensical to those in the Middle … and, again, low class 
  in the South). While there is a Constitution, its interpretation is up to each state's Supreme Court 
  rather than a federal body. There are lots of other variations on this theme but, considering that 
  Civics takes a whole year to teach in The Dream's world … and it's even more complicated in the 
  13 Colonies, we won't go into the whole deal here. Instead, let's start with the territory. We'll take it 
  from the top. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The North 
  It is often said that there are two New Englands—both within the 
  colonies Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New 
  Hampshire. 
   
  One is the New England of great cities and urban seaports. 
  Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay are known the world 
  over. They are centers of trade and commerce and the home of 
  many of the Great Universities. This is the loud, chaotic, 
  affluent New England; the dizzying, capitalistic, cosmopolitan 
  New England that draws merchants, students, and thrill 
  seekers from around the globe. 
    
  The other New England is still a land that the Puritans would 
  recognize. Beyond the cities, one finds a sprawling network of 
  small communities where life still centers, as it has for almost 
  four hundred years, on the town parish or church. This is the 
  quiet, insular New England—a place with little use for the 
  excitement of the cities and little trust for strangers; particularly 
  those whose faith is suspect. 
   
  To those with too little time (or the inclination) to look closer, 
  this is simply a line between the country and the city, or (more 
  insultingly), the sophisticated and the backward. The truth is 
  rather more complicated.   
   
  There are not, in fact two New Englands, but one—with a 
  foundation philosophy that gave rise to both the dizzying 
  affluence of the seaports and the quiet solitude inland.  
   
  Two Worlds 
  From the beginning, New Englanders understood the 
  importance of commerce. The soil in New England is poor, the 
  land more hilly than flat, and the weather, with its long winters, 
  altogether unfit for most farming.  The early settlers were 
  practical people and they made the best of the resources given 
  them—lumber, access to the sea, calm bays that made for 
  good harbors, and vast schools of fish. Over the years these 
  industries and new ones (especially manufacturing) have made 
  the North East affluent and successful. 
   
  If they understood the necessity of commerce, they also 
  understood the risks that would come with commercial 
  success—the risk of corruption by outside influences—the risk 
  of destruction of their way of life. These are the risks that all 
  societies face when they interact with the outside world, and to 
  some degree, change is inevitable; new ideas are contagious. 
  The Colonial Congregation 
  The Colonial Congregation is the
  puritan church—it exists throughout
  the 
  colonies 
  and, 
  evangelically,
  throughout the world. It is a set of
  contradictions: 
   
  With four hundred years of evolution it
  is no longer the splinter group that
  broke from the English
  Protestant
  movement. It is now a mature,
  powerful 
  organization. 
  Over 
  the
  decades 
  and 
  centuries 
  it 
  has
  recognized the following: 
   
  1. More rights for women. Although
  women 
  are 
  still 
  seen 
  as
  fundamentally different from men,
  they are granted more status in
  the church.  
  2. Assimilation of St. Augustine's
  views on Calvinism. The theory
  that one's salvation rests not with
  the person but with God is a
  cornerstone of Calvinist thought.
  Those veins of theology still exist
  in the Colonial Congregation but
  instead of clinging to the concept
  of a small-list of the elite who
  would hear the call to salvation, it
  is believed that many, if not most
  are to be saved and that while the
  ultimate force of faith 'rests with
  the Almighty' one's attitude in life
  must presume potential salvation
  rather than doubt it. 
  3. Other organizations may hear the
  call of faith differently—but it may
  be the same call. There is still
  religious 
  discrimination 
  in 
  the
  North 
  (particularly 
  against
  Quakers) but at the higher levels
  of the Colonial Congregation there
  are allowances for these other
  faiths. 
  4. A sense of humor: it's a very, very
  slight one—but a faint, almost
  vanishing vein of humor has found
  its way into the church. Often
  invisible 
  to 
  outsiders, a dry,
  almost laconic appreciation of
  irony, absurdity, and wit has found
  a 
  home 
  in 
  the 
  Colonial
  Congregation. 
   
  But New England is as much a place as it is a belief. They do 
  not want to be part of the outside world—they want to be apart 
  from it. This challenge—their dependence on trade and their 
  desire for stability—formed the New England society that has 
  met that challenge and survived, little changed in the ways that 
  matter, for four hundred years.  
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The cities, with their free flow of ideas and 
  shaky moral foundations are seen as a 
  necessary concession. Without them—
  without the power and affluence that they 
  provide—New England would be at the 
  mercy of their world rather than in control 
  of it. If the Patriarchs find Boston, at its 
  worst, soulless and corrupt, they find the 
  idea of their own world at the mercy of the 
  Cosmopolitans and the Capitalists an even 
  darker nightmare. 
   
  But they knew that quarantine alone wasn’t 
  enough to protect their society. To resist 
  the ideas of the World, their people would 
  have to be properly inoculated—and their 
  inoculation is education. 
   
  Far from backward, rural New England has 
  one of the highest literacy rates in the 
  modern world. The curriculum is heavily 
  theological, but also teaches practical 
  skills, and the universities are their greatest 
  accomplishments 
  and 
  their 
  greatest 
  weapons—while they need (and have) an impeccable army, their cultural soldiers are teachers, 
  writers, and lawyers. 
  The Intelligence Arm of the Congregational Church 
  In the eternal war against darkness, the Colonial 
  Congregation has its own soldiers. These are the 
  Special Agents (called Inquisitors by everyone but the 
  church itself—including most northerners) whose job it is 
  to take the battle to the enemy. 
   
  Special Agents carry magical weapons (enchanted 
  bullets), are trained in powerful Hex magic (and its 
  defense) and adhere to a code of honor and conduct 
  that even the G-Men of the CBI (Colonial Bureau of 
  Investigation) find stifling.  
   
  While the Special Agents have no Federal Authority, and 
  are considered by many (from personal experience, 
  often times) to be arrogant moralists, they often get 
  cooperation across the colonies (and the world) where 
  no outsiders might be welcome. The Agents are not
  seen as hypocrites. When they show up for an 
  investigation, it is an indication that 'the worst' may have 
  happened or be about to happen. 
   
  They are taught that their purity strengthens, rather 
  than limits them. They are taught that self-discipline 
  and humility free the spirit; that license and 
  hedonism are stronger chains than any laws of man. 
  While some (especially outsiders) see this as pure 
  indoctrination (and they might have a point), the 
  modern puritans point out that these ideas and 
  beliefs are not theirs alone, and do not crumble 
  when exposed to the scrutiny, as propaganda 
  would. They admit that the New England life is not 
  for everyone—it requires a strength of character to 
  submit, for the good of all, to the rules of God and 
  man. 
   
  Society 
  In the country, growing up means coming to terms 
  with the world you have been born into. Transition 
  from adolescence to adulthood means learning to 
  live in harmony and acceptance rather than 
  rebellion. For those who can’t or won’t, the 
  leaving—self-
  imposed exile—
  is 
  often 
  less 
  painful 
  than 
  remaining.   
   
  For those that 
  do 
  stay, 
  life 
  follows comforting patterns. Weeks are marked by Sunday 
  Mutation 
  Living with so much magic produces
  mutations: half-human, half-animals, shape
  changers, and even more bizarre people. In
  the North these people are considered
  'disabled' and treated with sympathy—they
  are, however, expected socially to conceal
  their condition as much as possible. Veils,
  staying in doors, and heavy cloaks are
  necessary for the non-humans to be
  accepted in polite society. 
   
  14
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  services, community social events, days spent 
  in trade (or, for many, factory work), and 
  evenings spent with families.  Seasons are 
  marked with agricultural rituals (sewing and 
  planting, 
  followed 
  by 
  harvest), 
  and 
  celebrations.  Years are marked with 
  birthdays, the raising of children, and burying 
  of the dead. 
   
  Life 
  is 
  seen 
  as 
  an 
  expression 
  and 
  understanding of a higher purpose. Work is 
  not simply a job, but a profession. Some 
  people find the structure and discipline of the 
  Puritan life stifling, but for a great many, it 
  offers fulfillment and even, perhaps in some 
  small way, enlightenment. 
   
  Almost all communities have public schools 
  that teach advanced levels of literacy and 
  arithmetic. At age 14, students can leave to 
  learn a trade or work in the local factory, but 
  those whose families can support it can 
  continue through secondary school (often 
  there are High Schools nearby, but many 
  Secondary Schools are boarding schools), 
  and the most academically gifted children 
  can continue to college. Primary schools are 
  public; secondary schools are private, but 
  there is ample public help for anyone who 
  desires further education, and the same 
  holds true for college tuition. 
   
  In New England, young men and women are 
  judged on their character as much as they 
  are 
  judged 
  on 
  their 
  accomplishments. 
  References 
  are 
  necessary 
  for 
  any 
  employment or admittance into educational 
  facilities. 
   
  New England is wealthy—its factories and 
  seaports have seen to that—but overt shows 
  of wealth are considered vulgar, and the laws 
  make it perfectly clear that they protect the 
  righteous, not the rich. Humility of a personal 
  nature is valued—there are no aristocrats in 
  New England society and having money is 
  something to grateful for and, perhaps, 
  slightly embarrassed by. Conversely, pride in 
  one’s work or trade, or ethic is encouraged 
  and appreciated. Even humble work is 
  honorable if done well.  Owning a shipping 
  concern or a mill might make one rich, but 
  teachers and clerics are the most respected. 
   
  Religion is a major part of all aspects of life 
  throughout New England, even more so than it 
  John Smith is a young man—handsome, and almost 
  disturbingly neat (fresh haircut, shoes shined, I’d guess, 
  within the last hour, no spare threads on his jacket or 
  trousers), and the kind of posture that makes you cringe—in 
  my experience, people who sit up this straight have the 
  personality that goes with having a stick stuck someplace 
  uncomfortable. But Smith has a thin, almost mischievous smile 
  and a dry sense of humor. He clearly finds the idea of being 
  here, and me asking him questions, absurd. I suppose if I think 
  about it, I find it a little absurd too. 
   
  RS: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.  
  Special Agent John Smith: My pleasure. 
  RS: Your title is Special Agent. Can you tell me what that 
  means? 
  Smith: (with a faint smile) It means I work in the service of 
  the Intelligence Arm of the Congregational Church.  You’re 
  probably wondering if there are just ‘regular’ agents.  I’ve 
  never met any. 
  RS: So all agents are special agents? 
  Smith: We like to think so. 
  RS: I see. Now… the Intelligence Arm of the Congregational 
  Church… that’s a little odd. I don’t think of a church as 
  needing an intelligence arm. Sometimes the sermon’s about 
  what the neighbors are doing, or about being ‘my brother’s 
  keeper,’ but I’ve never thought of them actually spying. 
  Something I’ve been missing? 
  Smith: Of course not. Not every Church, and certainly not 
  every congregation needs an intelligence service. In a sense 
  we exist so that most communities don’t need to worry about 
  the things we do. 
  RS: What, exactly, is it that you do? 
  Smith: We gather information about our enemy—what his 
  tactics are. What his objectives are. What methods he uses. 
  Who is with him and who is against him. 
  RS: The Enemy. I’m not sure I understand. 
  Smith: I’m sure you can figure it out. 
  RS: You spy on Satan. 
  Smith: (smiles) Not literally. We keep an eye on his Works (I 
  can hear the capital letter). 
  RS: I see. And this is not… allegorical? 
  Smith: Sadly, no. This is quite literal. And very serious. 
  RS: I’m a Presbyterian... a lot of my friends back in New 
  York are Quakers. I don’t think either of our churches have an 
  intelligence service. And when we talk about the Devil, we’re 
  talking about evil within us—not… I don’t know… little guys 
  with horns and pitch forks dancing around. Do you think that 
  we’re all missing something? 
  Smith: We disagree with the Vatican on almost everything, 
  but I think both the Holy See and the Congregation would 
  agree that, yes—you’re missing something. 
   RS: The Vatican. 
  Smith: You have to admit—they’ve been in this game a long 
  time. 
   
  15
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  is in the rest of the 13 Colonies. Attendance of 
  church, the tithing of wages, and the living of 
  one’s life in an open, moral manner are all 
  but mandatory. Travelers who follow other 
  customs might be tolerated, but not for long. 
   
  Surprisingly, non-Christians are given special 
  protection by law; they cannot worship in 
  public or speak of their beliefs, but they are 
  far more welcome than those who profess 
  Christianity, but are lapsed or insincere. 
  Even Catholics are more tolerated than the 
  “Luke Warm.” 
   
  Rural New England is strictly patriarchal. 
  Although women have legal protection and 
  are fully educated in elementary and 
  secondary school, very few women are 
  selected for higher education and there are 
  laws preventing women from purchasing 
  property (they can own it).  Women play an 
  important role in social life and are active 
  politically in ‘non-official’ roles, but from a 
  progressive 
  perspective 
  New 
  England’s 
  gender equity perspective is quite backward.  
   
  The Law 
  There are few laws and few rights. The laws 
  that do exist are broad and give magistrates 
  considerable 
  jurisdiction. 
  Disturbing 
  the 
  Peace, for instance can be used for a variety 
  of purposes, from controlling unruly children 
  to silencing dissent. Only officers and 
  soldiers are permitted to carry weapons, but 
  visitors and travelers can obtain permits if 
  they show a reason. 
   
  Punishments tend to fit the crime. Public 
  humiliation 
  is 
  commonly 
  employed 
  for 
  breaches of social mores. Fines are levied 
  against 
  commercial 
  misconduct. 
  More 
  serious or violent acts might be met with 
  floggings or expulsion. 
   
  The New England Colonies have a secret 
  police that is, in practice, more of an intra-
  colony and inter-national intelligence service 
  than a traditional secret police. Agents are 
  selected from a variety of sources, and being 
  called to serve is considered a great honor. 
  Their mission is no less than the eternal 
  battle against evil and corruption.  Their 
  enemy, Satan himself. 
   
  The belief that Darkness presents a clear and 
  present danger to their world and to all of humanity 
  RS: I’ve never thought of it that way. 
  Smith: (the faint smile is back) If I do my job right, you’ll 
  never have to again. 
  RS: Meaning that you spy so we don’t have to? 
  Smith: (Just smiles – then) We all agree that evil exists. You 
  have police in New York to fight it. We see it as being… 
  directed. And that sense of direction makes combating it at the 
  fringes—at the edges—ineffective. We try to fight it at its 
  source. 
  RS: So when we have pirates operating out Canadian waters, 
  they’re not being paid off by the French, it’s really the Devil?
  Smith: It’s not that literal. And we’re not so much concerned 
  with crimes against the flesh as we are with crimes against the 
  spirit. 
  RS: I think there’s a whole other article in this line of 
  questioning. Rather than go round and round with the whole 
  Devil/Church thing, let’s talk about women. Are there any 
  female special agents? 
  Smith: (Clearly amused by this) Certainly. 
  RS: See—that surprises me. The Church—the Congregational 
  Church—has strong prohibitions against women holding 
  office, but they can be Special Agents? 
  Smith: There’s nothing in scripture that specifies the 
  composition of the Intelligence Services. We’re free to staff 
  them as necessary. 
  RS: So it’s necessary to hire women. 
  Smith: Sure. 
  RS: For what? 
  Smith: We have certain recruitment and employment quotas. 
  We hire qualified applicants of any gender. 
  RS: That sounds awfully progressive. Doesn’t the whole 
  ‘gentle sex’ thing mean that women—even exceptional 
  women—aren’t usually qualified applicants? 
  Smith: You’re characterizing the Church as taking the 
  position that women are weaker than men. That’s not what we 
  believe. 
  RS: It’s not? Man—let me tell you something: someone out 
  there is really doing you guys wrong… 
  Smith: It’s a misunderstood position. We believe that God 
  made the sexes different. We each have different strengths and 
  weaknesses. There are places, for example, that I cannot go 
  without attracting attention—places a woman could go. In 
  those situations, It’s me—men—who are the weaker sex. 
  RS: So are female special agents used for infiltration? 
  Smith: (slow grin) I’d rather not talk about methods. 
  RS: You—all you special agents—you work under cover? 
  Smith: There have been cases where agents have 
  misrepresented themselves. In general, we try to convince 
  those on the other side to repent… and confess. 
  RS: Confess. Talk. Betray their friends? 
  Smith: Our enemies—our targets—don’t understand fidelity 
  in a Christian sense. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  is not fully understood by those outside of the 
  innermost circles, and in truth, much of their 
  spying is done for simple, practical reasons 
  (to find out what the enemies of their states 
  are up to). 
   
  Magic 
  The Catholic Church settled the issue of 
  Magic in medieval times with its edict that 
  magic was a natural force with no innate 
  morality. Although modern science supports 
  that view, the Fathers of New England were 
  never so comfortable with either Magic or the 
  Church’s authority. 
   
  As with Catholicism, certain kinds of Magic 
  (Witchcraft, most Necromancy, the Elder 
  School) are absolutely forbidden. Others are 
  suspect. Summonsing and Binding, so 
  essential to the rest of the world’s life are 
  viewed with incredible suspicion. 
   
  Still, Magic is a natural force—a force that, 
  although exceptional, may be a gift from God 
  as much as light, electricity, and other 
  sources of power are. New Englanders view 
  it with suspicion, but not fear. Public displays 
  of magic or magically powered items are not 
  welcome in rural New England. Magicians 
  are expected to practice behind closed 
  doors, and many publicly hold non-magical 
  jobs, acting as doctors or lawyers in addition 
  to providing magical services. 
   
  One side effect of New England’s rejection of 
  magic is their adoption of technology. The 
  New 
  England 
  has 
  a 
  solid, 
  modern 
  infrastructure of telegraphs, trains, and 
  factories that surprise many visitors that 
  regard them as backward and rural. New 
  England also fields several small, well-
  equipped “militia” units that are, in reality, a 
  modern, mechanized army, and one of the 
  strongest in the New World. 
   
  New England has been careful to keep its 
  way of life in the face of trade and 
  technology. Factories are quiet, orderly 
  places that pay wages well above those in 
  most industrialized nations. 
  RS: I guess not. But let’s talk about that. Your job brings you 
  into contact with these people—these bad guys. Doesn’t that 
  put you in some jeopardy? I don’t mean physically. 
  Smith: Absolutely. 
  RS: Have you ever been tempted? Approached by… agents of 
  the other side who want you to… go over? 
  Smith: Yes. 
  RS: I’m trying to imagine that… if your enemy is… who you 
  say it is—then he’s got to be pretty good at the whole 
  Temptation thing. 
  Smith: Very good. 
  RS: Wow… so… I’m trying to imagine… what was it like? I 
  mean, what did he offer you? Girls? 
  Smith: (Smiles) Lust isn’t my particular weakness. 
  RS: Then… 
  Smith: Pride, Sir. Let me ask you something—you have a 
  dream, don’t you? Something… unfulfilled… some 
  aspiration. As wonderful as interviewing me is, I’m sure that 
  you have some…ultimate ambition. 
  RS: I do. Two girls at once. 
  Smith: (Laughs). I guess your weakness is Lust. 
  RS: No—I know what you mean. When I graduated from 
  Smith and Mary, I wanted to cover the Continental Congress. 
  Really… important stuff… I wanted to write serious analysis 
  that would be read internationally. Sure. Everyone’s got a 
  dream. 
  Smith: That’s pride. That desire for notoriety. That craving 
  for recognition, respect—adulation. That is Pride, and that is 
  what I was offered. 
  RS: And did you take it? 
  Smith: I’m here, aren’t I? 
  RS: (Silence) 
  Smith: No—No, I did not succumb. By the Grace of the 
  Father, I resisted temptation. 
  RS: (Laughs) That’s good. 
  Smith: Thanks. 
  RS: So… you come face to face with the forces of darkness. 
  You offer them… a chance to repent? To make reparations. 
  They offer you… I don’t know—your own Deaconship, or 
  something. You work undercover. You go by false names. Do 
  you carry a gun? 
  Smith: (shows me a nickel-plated .45 automatic pistol) The 
  rounds are small gold golems. They’re specially enchanted to 
  be effective against spirits, demons and the undead. The 
  weapon itself has a limited amount of self-direction—it can 
  find its way to my hand. 
  RS: Cool. Ever had to use it? 
  Smith: On occasion. 
  RS: Okay… one last question. Is John Smith your real name? 
  Smith: (One last smile) That’s what it’ll say on my 
  tombstone. 
   
   
  17
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The Colonies 
  Basic Puritan Beliefs  
  1. Total Depravity - 
  through Adam's fall, every 
  human is born sinful - 
  concept of Original Sin.  
  2. Unconditional Election 
  - God "saves" those he 
  wishes - only a few are 
  selected for salvation - 
  concept of predestination.  
  3. Limited Atonement - 
  Jesus died for the chosen 
  only, not for everyone.  
  4. Irresistible Grace - 
  God's grace is freely 
  given, it cannot be earned 
  or denied. Grace is 
  defined as the saving and 
  transfiguring power of 
  God.  
  5. Perseverance of the 
  "saints" - those elected by 
  God have full power to 
  interpret the will of God, 
  and to live uprightly. If 
  anyone rejects grace after 
  feeling its power in his 
  life, he will be going 
  against the will of God - 
  something impossible in 
  Puritanism. 
  http://www.curriculumunits.com/crucible/ba
  ckground/puritan.beliefs.htm 
   
  Some Aspects of the Puritan 
  Legacy 
  a. The need for moral 
  justification for 
  private, public, and 
  governmental acts.  
  b. The Questing for 
  Freedom - personal, 
  political, economic, 
  and social.  
  c. The Puritan work 
  ethic.  
  d. Elegiac verse - 
  morbid fascination 
  with death.  
  e. The city upon the 
  hill - concept of 
  manifest destiny. 
  http://www.curriculumunits.com/crucib
  le/background/puritan.beliefs.htm 
  Massachusetts  
  If Virginia is indicative of the South, then 
  Massachusetts is iconic of New England. 
  Massachusetts was settled under the jurisdiction 
  of 
  several 
  corporate 
  interests 
  (with 
  the 
  unrealized intention of making money), but the 
  people who came there and lived there were 
  Pilgrims and ten years later, the Puritans. 
   
  Culture and Politics 
  From the beginning, the cruel, inhospitable 
  Northeast was the sort of place one would only 
  settle if everywhere else was worse. The men 
  and women who came to Massachusetts came 
  seeking the freedom to practice Christianity as 
  they saw fit. 
   
  The histories of those early attempts to gain a 
  toehold on the upper coasts of the New World 
  are repetitive—settlers arrive; winter comes. 
  Almost everyone dies. 
   
  Eventually, however, they learned to live with the 
  brutal winters and short summers, and they set 
  about creating the Godly Society they had envisioned. 
   
  What’s the difference between a Puritan and a Pilgrim 
  (this, according to the Pilgrims)? 
   
  PILGRIMS 
   PURITANS 
  Arrived 1620 
   Arrived 1630 
  Governors Carver and 
  Bradford 
   Governor Winthrop 
  Plymouth Colony 
   Massachusetts Bay 
  Colony 
  Friendly with Indians for 
  40 years 
   Indian problems from the 
  outset 
  Paid Indians for land 
   Seized Indian lands 
  Communal living first 
  seven years 
   Individual profit from the 
  outset 
  Democratic, consensus of 
  the governed 
   Authoritarian 
  Separated from the 
  Church of England 
   "Purified" the Church 
  from within 
  Not a single prosecution of 
  witchcraft 
   Prosecuted and executed 
  for witchcraft 
  Representation and equal 
  inheritance 
   Nothing to compare 
  Forerunner of US 
  Constitution & Declaration 
  of Independence 
   
  Nothing to compare 
  More tolerant than the 
  Church of England 
   Intolerant 
  http://www.sail1620.org/m2k/history/pnotp.htm 
  Puritan life (and it is the Puritan vision that took hold) is simple, 
  austere, and difficult. Work is holy. Puritans work from sun-up to 
  sundown. Attendance of Church is mandatory. There is little or no 
  separation between church and state. Like many theocracies, the 
  Massachusetts 
  Bay 
  Colonies 
  were extreme and 
  to 
  modern 
  sensibilities, 
  repressive. 
   
  Although 
  these 
  beliefs 
  and 
  the 
  Puritan legacy is still strong in New England (and 
  particularly in Massachusetts), modern day 
  Puritanism is not nearly as dogmatic or autocratic 
  as it was at inception. 
   
  Still, when in Puritan Country, there is no 
  mistaking it. Even today, there are echoes 
  everywhere of the Massachusetts’ philosophical 
  and theocratic roots.  
   
  Those who visit Massachusetts (and leave 
  Boston, which is a different world, entirely) find it 
  a serious place—the Puritans had little use for 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  play and no use at all for extremes of food and drink.  
   
  The Word is everywhere, woven into wall hangings, or carved in plaques, or hung from signs. 
   
  But if the Puritans are eager to render unto God what is God’s, they’re not so ready to give Caesar 
  anything. Virginia might lay claim to the roots of freedom, but in Massachusetts, Revolution 
  blossomed almost from the start. 
  The Puritans (and the Pilgrims) both believed that communities were formed by covenants of the 
  governed (this democracy did not extend, at first, to interpretation of Biblical edicts), and so, in 
  these Town Meetings, the New World got its first taste of Democracy—and it took hold. 
   
  Since the beginning, the free men of Massachusetts did whatever they wanted, including dealing 
  with or warring with the Indians, and annexing their neighbors (they took over Maine, and much of 
  New Hampshire). This included leveling projectionist tariffs and persecuting Anglicans (as well as 
  Quakers and other non-Puritan sects), and that finally caused the British government to revoke their 
  charter and turn Massachusetts into a secular colony under control of a Governor and a General 
  Assembly. 
   
  Today, the Congregational Church is still a powerful, but not absolute force in Massachusetts and 
  New England, in general. 
   
  Religion is not the only social or political force at work in New England. Massachusetts Bay (and 
  Boston Harbor, in particular) is a major commercial center. Shipbuilding and sea-trade are one of 
  the ways that Massachusetts makes contact with the rest of the colonies and the rest of the world. 
  Massachusetts boatmen are famous for being astute businessmen and fearless, expert sailors.  
   
  The Textbook Puritan 
  It has been said that a Puritan is a person who lives in fear that somewhere, someone is having a 
  good time. And of course, there is the stereotype of a Puritan as a grim, humorless man standing in 
  judgment of everything he sees. This view is understandable, and often the result of interactions 
  with outsiders (who may well be judged harshly, depending on their conduct). 
   
  But careful examination suggests a more nuanced view. A Puritan is serious—about his work. Work 
  is a blessing, and it is expected to be done well. A man does not just have a job; he has a 
  profession—a duty to perform before God, on this world. Certain activities are to be avoided 
  (drinking, 
  gambling), 
  not 
  (necessarily) 
  because 
  they 
  are 
  inherently evil, but because they are 
  a waste of precious time.  
   
  The Puritans did (and do) gladly 
  indulge in social, communal events 
  and parties.  
   
  Education is very important and has 
  powerful 
  public 
  support 
  in 
  Massachusetts and throughout the 
  northeast--“Ignorance is the Mother 
  of Heresy.” Most Puritans are well 
  versed in logic and are expected to 
  be able to explain their beliefs in 
  logical terms. They also speak 
  simply and directly—a result of both 
  their logical training, and their desire 
  to 
  avoid 
  unnecessarily 
  ‘flowery’ 
  language. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
   
  Finally, one salient feature of the devout Puritans, 
  and the foundation of the strength of their faith is 
  their personal belief that they are the agents of 
  God. Some may thunder or preach, but for most 
  Puritans, their faith is quiet and unyielding—a 
  force that is of great comfort to their friends and 
  terrifying to their enemies. 
   
  Boston 
  If there is one place to visit in Massachusetts, it is 
  Boston Harbor. Here, the force of capitalism runs 
  at full throttle, making the Bay Area a place of 
  frenetic activity; and near-anarchy. It is a fluid 
  place where almost anything is possible (some 
  say, half jokingly, that Massachusetts has all of 
  the vice and sin of any other colony, but that it is 
  simply all concentrated in Boston). 
   
  Harvard University 
  The study of magic in the world of the Thirteen Colonies is what the study of Law or Medicine was 
  in the Dream World—a path to wealth and social standing in which ability is (and was) rewarded 
  over breeding or family history. There are other parallels—Law in the Dream World was the 
  stepping-stone to politics and while it is still the most reliable way into the halls of power, Magic 
  offers its own advantages. 
   
  Harvard University is a world-class school for the study of both Practicing Magic (less formally 
  called Operational Magic, or Magic Which Actually Gets Used) and Theoretical Magic – the study of 
  the nature and implications of magic.  
   
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
  MIT manages the intersection between Magic and the Industrial Revolution. They understand and 
  violently push the limits of knowledge. The labs are a place to probe the depths of the physical 
  world. 
   
  MIT, itself, is a strange place for the uninitiated. There is a building-sized computer system (one of 
  only two or three in existence) ENIAC IV, but with a sophisticated artificial intelligence—something 
  that was never accomplished in the Dreamworld. There is examination into the Thermodynamic 
  properties of magic (perpetual motion still seems an impossible dream—but magic makes it all the 
  more tempting). Underlying the MIT revolution (brewing in MIT, poised to change the world, 
  perhaps) is the idea that the fusion between Magic and Technology can compensate for limits of 
  technology and automate the advantages provided by the existence of magic. 
   
  Whether this is, in fact, possible remains controversial, but the campus itself is a test case with 
  laboratories dedicated to the creation of robots, the re-animation of dead tissue, the mass-
  production of magical artifacts, and so on.  
   
  Andover Witch Trials 
  In the late 1690’s witchcraft hysteria swept the New England seaboard, the most tragic (and 
  popularized) examples of these are the Salem trials—but a precursor to the Salem hysteria began 
  with an outbreak of small pox in the tiny Massachusetts town of North Andover. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
   
  The pox spread viciously and decimated 
  the 
  town, 
  leaving 
  it 
  isolated 
  and 
  vulnerable before the onslaught of 
  winter. Exactly what happened in the 
  frigid months between January and 
  March is unknown (no reliable records 
  exist), but it is believed that those who 
  survived did so with the quiet, diabolical 
  assistance of an unseen, unnamed force. 
   
  That spring, with the fear of pox 
  receding, and the thaw coming, Andover 
  was ready to re-emerge—to all outward 
  appearances, vibrant and alive. She was 
  tainted, though, and when whispers of 
  strange corruptions and obscene rituals 
  begin to filter out, the Higher Courts 
  ordered an investigation. They found 
  disturbing things including desecrated 
  graves, evidence of odd summonsing 
  rituals (in a town with no Magicians), and a hand-transcribed copy of the The Malleus 
  Maleficarum. 
   
  Quiet, secret trials were held. Many of those who survived the pox and the winter did not live to see 
  then end of Spring. The authorities, clearly concerned about hysteria, sealed the documents and 
  pardoned those who were not beyond redemption with the order that they never speak of what 
  happened that winter. 
   
  Rhode Island 
  Rhode Island was founded on the radical idea of religious freedom—not just freedom to worship the 
  way the Puritans want you to. Rhode Island is New England without the fire and brimstone (it is also 
  cheerfully welcomes Quakers, Jews, and even more “marginal” religions on principal. Witchcraft, 
  although not a crime, is not considered a religion and is not given the absolute protection conferred 
  by the statutory freedom of worship). 
   
  It’s free in other ways too—by far the smallest of the colonies, Rhode Island has never quite been 
  able to shake the reputation of being more of a hide-out or hangout, than an actual government. Its 
  aggressive support of ah… privateering doesn’t help matters.  
   
  The Exeter Consumption 
  Tuberculosis—the Consumption—was one of the early plagues that wracked the colonists (small 
  pox was another), sometimes decimating entire townships. Tuberculosis came to Exeter Rhode 
  Island in the late 1770’s when the Stuvant family’s eldest daughter Sarah fell ill and died. 
   
  The disease spread, claiming one family member after another, and then it began to afflict the 
  surrounding townspeople. This would have been simply another story of epidemic (it was not 
  unusual for disease to spread, unchecked, in Colonial America), but the Exeter Consumption had 
  strange symptoms. First, the subject had terrible nightmares—dreams of being visited in the night 
  by terrifying beings, sometimes wearing the faces of the dead. Second, and more tellingly, when 
  the ailing were moved away from Exeter they improved, sometimes recovering completely. 
   
   
  21
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The formal investigation records are sealed, but it is known that following an inquiry from 
  Providence officials, a procession, led by a Minister exhumed the Stuvant family cemetery and 
  found them perfectly preserved—even a bit bloated—and full of warm blood. 
   
  The cemetery was razed, the bodies burnt and the ashes buried in iron pots, but since that time, 
  there have been reports of strange noises at night and every so often, the odd, Exeter Consumption 
  will reappear in the remote areas, claiming more men and women for the earth. 
   
  The Odd Correspondences of Author Charles Dexter Pym 
  Dr. Charles Pym was a renowned Providence physician in the early 20th century. Although reclusive 
  and sickly, he was known for his gentle bedside manner, excellent skills and care, and his 
  voluminous correspondence with a number of notables including local (and not-so-local) political 
  figures, writers, lawyers, and other medical professionals. 
   
  Doctor Pym died of intestinal cancer in the early 1930’s, and his estate (willed to the Providence 
  City Library) included several volumes of letters he had written and received. While the letters were 
  initially considered important cultural artifacts an examination of them revealed something peculiar. 
   
  Charles Pym wrote on many issues—everyday news, political and social commentary, and so forth. 
  With two confidents identified only by their initials (H.L. and E.P.), he discussed something else—
  insight into an invisible world. These letters describe his interest in the power of dreams to reveal 
  what he thought to be a co-existing alternate universe; one that was at once fanciful and horrifically 
  nightmarish. 
   
  His confidants seemed convinced of the reality of this world as well, and their correspondence 
  (covering more than 8 years, at the end of his life), discusses their exploration of the world, the 
  things they learned there, and the dangers they faced. 
   
  This rich, fantasy life (Magicians who are familiar with both magic and “possible” worlds have 
  studied the letters, and agree that they seem to be pure imagination, conforming to no known 
  cosmology) would be dismissed as compelling, if eccentric fiction except for one thing: 
   
  Charles Pym correctly predicted, to the hour, the time of his own death (He would be leaving, he 
  stated, his current ‘home’ and visiting his friends in the dream world). 
   
  Since his death, the discovery and analysis of his letters, and further investigations, his house and 
  the cemetery he is interned in have become tourist attractions of sorts—a meeting ground for those 
  troubled by strange dreams who suspect his rich descriptions of bleak mesas and veiled things on 
  ancient thrones may have been more than mere speculation. 
   
  Newport Privateers 
  Rhode Island has a reputation for being a haven for pirates; this is largely deserved—Rhode Island, 
  as a small and relatively weak state made extensive use of Privateers (mercenary ships) for both 
  military and sometimes economic defense (supposedly targets would be only French and Spanish 
  ships). 
   
  Newport, especially, is a rough and transient port that has a reputation for asking few questions 
  about its guests. In fact, the line between fisherman, privateer, and pirate is a blurry one. Many 
  privateers find honest work when the mood strikes them, and many fishermen find particularly 
  lucrative contracts hard to resist in tough times. 
   
  Newport is a center for this kind of activity—a tough, dangerous seaport, where secrecy and 
  lenience allow for a variety of shadowy enterprises. It also has a romantic aspect as well—real 
  privateers are honorable; men of principal—they protect the weak instead of preying on them. They 
  fight as a militia navy, and they pay the price of being forever hunted by maritime authorities.  There 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  are very few men who live up to the ideal, but Newport has a reputation for being a place where 
  anything can be found if one looks hard enough. 
   
  The Old Stone Mill 
  The Stone Tower (known locally as the Old Stone Mill), is a mystery—located in Newport off 
  Bellevue Avenue in Touro Park, it is a simple, very old tower some three stories high, with it’s base, 
  an arrangement of arches held by eight columns. There are windows within the tower, but it, itself, 
  is hollow. 
   
  Who built it, and for what purpose (Mill? Watchtower? Temple? – All of these have been suggested) 
  are unknown. Although the earliest settlers make no mention of it in their writings (suggesting that it 
  must have been constructed since then), by the time it is mentioned, it is already a mystery—who 
  built this? Where did it come from? 
   
  Connecticut 
  Connecticut is blessed by geography falling directly between places that everyone wants to live but 
  can’t afford (New York and Boston). As such it has enjoyed a largely peaceful and prosperous 
  history. Connecticut is the ideal home for quiet corporations that do not actively engage in trade, 
  manufacture goods, or woo consumers (Hartford in both the Dreamworld and this one is the center 
  of the Insurance universe). 
   
  It is also the home for the wealthy of New York and Boston with large families or the desire for 
  great, pastoral estates. Connecticut has several small train-lines and waterway ferries that connect 
  its outback with the world’s commerce centers. 
   
  Socially Connecticut prides itself on being more progressive than Massachusetts, while still being 
  more conservative than just about any place else.    
   
  New Hampshire 
  New Hampshire is the sixth of the New England states. Trade was important to the survival of early 
  New Hampshire and it acquired a reputation for delivering quality crafts including woodworking and 
  ship building. That tradition is carried on today, with the creation of precision machines including 
  clocks, arms and munitions, and components of steamships and zeppelins.  
   
  Socially New Hampshire is not as restrictive as Massachusetts nor as open as Rhode Island. They 
  accept a plurality of Christian faiths (no Catholics or Quakers, please), with the exception of 
  uprisings here and there; they tend to keep their moralizing to themselves. 
   
  23
  The Middle 
  The Middle Colonies are, perhaps, 
  the ones that a visitor from The 
  Dream would find the most familiar. 
  Wealth is concentrated in the cities; 
  cars line the streets (although many 
  are powered by Spirit Engines), and 
  telephone and telegraph systems 
  provide instant communication to 
  even the suburban areas. Men dress 
  in suits and ties to go to work. 
  Women, when they work (for most, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  progressive, 
   
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  cosmopolitan 'middle,' are employed as homemakers) wear dresses and blouses. 
   
  Across the Middle Colonies (as in the north—but less so by the south) education is mandatory for 
  children. Literacy rates are high and the average citizen prides himself on knowledge of the political 
  and philosophical issues of the day. Newspapers (the New York Times, for example) have a global 
  perspective and tend to shy away from colloquial and regional reporting. The major cities (New 
  York, and Philadelphia) employ mass-transit systems unseen outside of Atlanta's Marta and heavy 
  industry provides a significant portion of the Middle's economy. 
   
  The Middle is the home of the Continental Congress, the federal governing body of the 13 Colonies 
  (and the home of the President). Throughout the colonies the institution of public debate has carried 
  own and the Middle (as well as the South) expects much of its leaders. 
   
  Life in the Middle Colonies 
  Day-to-day life in the Middle Colonies is a lot like life in The Dream's America in the 50's. The day 
  begins with a ringing alarm clock and usually arrives early at the office (often an office building) or a 
  factory. Radio shows provide mass entertainment across the middle (and are less popular—or even 
  seen as offensive—in the North and South). The standard element of work on the desktop is the 
  typewriter and many families (especially in suburbia) own a single car (dual car families are rare). 
   
  There is a sense of gender inequity (women tend towards traditional as do men) but it isn't as 
  socially rigid as it might be. Women can and do work in the police forces, serve in diplomatic roles, 
  and even work in the Colonial Armed Forces (which are based out of Philadelphia).  
   
  In the Suburban areas magical mutations are rare (and shunned). The communities outside of the 
  gothic New York or progressive, sparkling Philadelphia tend towards WASPish, human 
  communities and half-breeds are not welcome. 
   
  The creation of the true Suburban Class is native to the middle: in the North there are cities (which 
  have heavy industries) and rural communities. In the Middle the suburbs are a place where the 
  working class enjoys leisure (there is no middle class in the South and in the North leisure is seen 
  as a dereliction of duty by many). 
   
   
   
   
  Job 
  Salary 
  Notes 
  Stock Broker 
  45,000/yr 
  The big firms use precognition (to little effect). The 
  smaller ones sometimes (illegally and unhealthily) enter 
  into dark contracts. 
  Secretary 
  15,000/yr 
  A senior secretary can earn 4x that much. Jobs involve 
  typing letters, making coffee, and filing.  
  Junior 
  Office 
  Worker 
  25,000/yr 
  A vast variety of jobs are encompassed in this. All of 
  them require a 2 or 4 year degree. 
  Office Worker 
  50,000/yr 
  Mid-level office workers are the staple of the suburban 
  middle class. 
  Union Labor 
  50,000/yr 
  In the cities where there's heavy industry, the unions 
  ensure that even basic laborers make a living (and a 
  good) wage. 
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The Colonies 
  New York  
  While New York City began life as a Dutch colony, and New York is a middle state, it is really like 
  nowhere else. The center of the financial world—worldwide—lies in New York. The home of the 
  metropolis, however, has an 'upstate' that owes more to the North than the Middle. Sleepy hamlets 
  and small towns dot the countryside. What makes Upstate New York different from New England is 
  the diversity—throughout New York there is a higher degree of later immigrants than almost 
  anywhere else (especially the Irish). These people have a cultural identity that wasn't forged four-
  hundred years ago based on theological differences with the Church of England.  
   
  New York, New York (aka Gotham aka New Amsterdam) 
  Manhattan got its start in 1626 when Dutch colonist Peter Minuit purchased it from the Angoliquin 
  Indians for about $24.00 (and that was a formality: there was already a fort on the island and the 
  Indians were in little position to argue). It was a corporate colony under the Dutch West India 
  Company and there were monetary incentives to bring colonists (cows paid for, groups of 50 or 
  more got special compensation, etc.) It supposed to produce agricultural goods for export—but that 
  wasn't quite how it turned out. 
   
  New York (then, of course, New Amsterdam) grew from a major port to a major city—and then to a 
  true metropolis: becoming the icon of Western Progress. It boasts the Empire State Building, the 
  tallest building in the world. At the mouth of the bay stands the Statue of Liberty (almost identical in 
  size to the Colossus of Rhodes—110ft for the Colossus, 111' 1" from heel to head for lady liberty). 
  It is renowned for its soaring art deco skyscrapers, for streets and avenues adorned with gothic 
  monsters, for its intestinal subway system so twisted that some lines have been lost for over a 
  century, and for its barrios and ethnic 'towns' each alive with the spirits of another place. 
   
  It is a city that remembers its origins: a sometimes-dark place with crumbling artifacts as a 
  testament to human pride. It is a city that is looking to the future with one of the largest collections 
  of progressive intellectuals anywhere (especially in the north). It is a place with groundbreaking 
  plays, the largest and most experienced metropolitan police force on the planet, and the nexus of 
  international economic blood-flow. 
   
  The Empire State Building 
  Iconic in stature, the so-called 8th Wonder of the World was begun March 1930 and 
  completed a lightning-fast 14 months later. It is massive in proportion: over 10,000 square 
  feet of imported marble make the lobby below its 1454-foot height. With 102 stories, 
  weighing 365 thousand tons, it has 73 elevators, 1860 steps from the street to the top, and 
  70 miles of water-pipes (over 400 miles of electrical wire!). It is an art deco masterpiece 
  and at its top is the mooring spire for dirigibles (the Jules Verns Express runs nightly 
  zeppelin tours from the roof, over the city for $300.00)  
   
  Towering over the city known to some inhabitants as Gotham for its dark architecture and 
  brooding atmosphere, the Empire State Building has been considered haunted since a 
  single button push ignited her lights. There is a sense of watchfulness both within and 
  around the building—as its shadow cuts across the city, those within it say they can feel the 
  hour—the presence of the building—without looking at a clock. Unlike normal haunting, the 
  Empire State Building is inhabited, some say, by the colonies' Zeitgeist. Workers who have 
  serviced the structure for decades swear they speak to the building and that it answers in 
  the groans of the foundation or the knocking of the pipes. 
   
  It is said that a coin dropped from the top would imbed itself in the cement—but that won't 
  happen: the airflows around the building would sweep it into one of the many crevices and 
  channels worked into its outer skin. Some have postulated that the building might do the 
  same for a person—but it has never been proven. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
   
  Monsters in the Architecture 
  Where the city isn't art deco it's gothic. Whether it's imps at Gramercy Park, seahorses, 
  mermaids, and gargoyles on Wall Street, or lions and eagles on Madison Avenue the city is 
  adorned with monsters. There is some evidence that the presence of these on the outside 
  keep spirits away from the interior—however it is very certain that such stone shapes can 
  become inhabited. The NYPD has a division devoted to tracking and controlling animations: 
  architecture come alive (and often hungry). While not 'common' it is sufficiently dangerous 
  that on some nights of the year people shy away from the buildings where evil looking 
  things leer down from overhead and grotesques adorn the rooftops. 
   
  A Vampire at 142 Bond Street? 
  The 142 Bond Street Salon is run by Mlle. Evelyn Claudine de Saint-Évremond, the 
  daughter of a famous courtier and once-favorite of Marie Antoinette. She is known for her 
  wit, style, and flair. She is well over 200 years old. Her house is a private club: a place for 
  elegant dining, high-stakes gambling, witty banter, and … ladies. Despite over seventy 
  charges for prostitution, nothing she has continued to run a house where beauties from 
  Paris and London (often fresh off the boats) are available as escorts to the gentlemen 
  patrons. Many have even secured wealthy husbands there. The true secret of her seeming 
  immortality is unknown. She travels in refined circles and with protection. Her enigmatic 
  smile is the only official answer to such questions. 
   
  Lost Subways 
  There is no more extensive subway system in the world than in New York. Contending with 
  choked streets since the 1800's, miles and miles of underground railway systems have 
  been built—and lost. The Port Authority is responsible for keeping them clean and as they 
  run deep underground, this is no easy feat. Albino Frog-like mutations live in the depths, 
  multi-colored serpents slide along corridors where the trains don't run and some lines (like 
  the infamous Long Island Railroad running under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights) 
  have been lost for over 100 years! 
   
  The deep subways, out of sight of New York's inhabitants, and often eerily vacant and 
  abandoned, have become a conduit for the flow of the Deeps. Some theorize that whatever 
  veins carry the flow of magic to the world run as underground rivers that spill invisible 
  essence into the catacomb like tunnels below New York. Above ground alleys don't open 
  into chambers inhabited by dragons—but underneath the city they may. It is said that on 
  Halloween the dead hold parades and drums and processions are heard (sometimes they 
  are heard by the unfortunate passengers on broken down trains trapped in the dark). Other 
  rumors tell of special trains made to carry gold from bank-vault to bank-vault that have 
  vanished in the twisted corridors). 
   
  The New York Public Library 
  New York Public Library: with 85 branch libraries and 4 research facilities is the largest of 
  its kind. Combined the Lenox private collection (including the first Gutenberg Bible brought 
  to the states) and the Astor library (created by John Astor, the then wealthiest man in 
  America). The main branch has over 75 miles of stacks both above and below ground. 
   
  Lord Astor and Lady Lenox (Patience and Fortitude) 
   Two majestic marble lions stand at the Beaux-Arts building of The New York Public Library 
  at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Named after the founders (given the names 
  of virtues during tough economic times) these are two Daylight Automatons. Patience 
  guards the south side and Fortitude the north entrance. They were long suspected of being 
  animate during the night—but on March 15th 1940 they moved, in public, for the first time. 
  They are not aggressive (and they do not threaten guests so long as they are well 
  behaved) but their massive, elegant marble bodies can be seen sprawled on the steps, 
  padding back and forth (silent for their multi-ton weight) or greeting travelers with an 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  inquisitive sniff. While they are overwhelming for first-time visitors, New Yorkers have come 
  to live with them and pass by without so much as a second glance. 
   
  Division's 1200 Incunabula 
   The closed stacks (not available to the public) of the rare books collection includes De Bry 
  prints, notable collections of Shakespeare, Isaak Walton's Compleat Angler, Whitney 
  collection of early English cookbooks, and other rare books. However, it is said that deep 
  underground in one of the labyrinthine chambers is the 1200 Incunabula Collection. It is a 
  series of books and artifacts that should not exist: forbidden texts on magic. Books printed 
  only in The Dream (or other realities with most definitely should not exist!), books penned 
  by the greats after their recorded deaths, and so on. It is certain that when the proper 
  authorities (the Continental Congress, parts of the NYPD, etc.) ask, the librarians have 
  great resources available and many unusual (and dangerous) collections. 
   
  Charles K. Dillard's Death Lights 
  In 1951 the vanity press collection of Charles K. Dillard was donated by his will to the New 
  York Public Library. Dillard had been a little known writer whose works were never 
  published in the mass market but had a following amongst North East Intellectuals. He was 
  known as an angry, often-violent man with a gift for subtle and disturbing prose. His final 
  work, Death Lights came to the library in with his collection and promptly vanished. It has 
  been reported at various locations in the library moving (it seems) from stack to stack and 
  even branch office to branch office. It is the specter of death: those running across it 
  (usually library personnel, who fear its rumored existence) are believed to be in mortal peril 
  in the next two days. Its presence is said to coincide with cold spaces, creeping feelings of 
  being watched, and glimpsed movement of black-cloaked things that surround it like 
  pallbearers. When reports of it surface the library is known to make quiet, discrete 
  arrangements for ghost hunters to come and deal with it. 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The Manors 
  After acquiring New Amsterdam from the Dutch, the English 
  governors carved up the territory into large tracts of land into 
  manors—almost medieval fiefdoms in which the landlord had 
  near total control over those who lived there. 
  The Revolution Revisited 
  By Dr. Arnold Frakes 
  From what we know of The Dream,
  the American Revolution was the
  major societal turning point that led
  to the separation from England and
  the eventual realization of Manifest
  Destiny and the creation of a North
  American superpower.  
   
  In The Dream this was allowed to 
  happen due to certain sympathies to the 
  colonists in Parliament, the difficulty of 
  waging a war across the Atlantic Ocean, 
  the dedication of the colonial troops, 
  and a few good and lucky decisions
  General George Washington. While the 
  exact causes (and the veracity of the 
  above) are difficult for us to divine, we 
  have records (read in dreams, salvaged 
   by 
  from the Deeps, and granted by the 
  Zeitgeists)  
   
  In our world the conflict was far less 
  simple: the colonies sit on the artery of 
  magic—for a colony, even an English 
  colony, to hold such a position was 
  acceptable. 
   
  For a nation, it was not. The 
  Independence War proved to the world 
  that the Colonies could resist any single 
  nation's attempt to completely control 
  them—while we found ourselves, in title 
  mostly, under Britain's rule we had 
  proved to the world that the colonies 
  could be independent. 
   
  That was all it took. In the early stages 
  of our Independence War France 
  became involved (this was due to 
  strategic diplomatic pressure exercised 
  by the colonies Benjamin Franklin). The 
  result was instant: England realized that 
  they could not allow France to become 
  the owner of the colonies (as did Spain, 
  the Empire, and other European 
  powers). 
   
  Poised on the brink of total war, The 
  Great Compromise was struck: the 
  colonies remained under the flag of 
  England but the harsh controls were 
  eased.  
   
  This set the stage for the New York dynasties—the rich, 
  powerful families that controlled, and to this day control the 
  bulk of New York’s commerce, resources, and political 
  stance. The Livingstons, Schuylers, De Lanceys, and Van 
  Cortlandts are still recognized, respected, and extraordinarily 
  powerful. 
   
  In the medieval world, the Lord of the Manor had more than 
  just money and authority—his power came from the medieval 
  ideology and that is where America (in general) and New 
  York (in specific) diverge. In the world of the 13 colonies, the 
  Revolution never came, but that doesn’t mean that the forces 
  that brought it about don’t exist. 
   
  A long history of Anti-rent Riots (often more structured 
  rebellion than riot) and other acts of civil or even uncivil 
  disobedience temper the landlord’s authority.  The people of 
  New York have never quite cast off their chains and expelled 
  the loyalists they way they did in the Dream World, but 
  neither have they been crushed and dominated. 
   
  Today, the tenants may have very little official power, but 
  their Landlords ignore the town-meetings and representatives 
  of the tenant-farmer groups at their own peril. The system is 
  not perfect, but it maintains a delicate balance that is in many 
  ways an operational democracy even if it is not a theoretical 
  one. 
   
  The Catskills 
  Another factor, perhaps, that limits the Landlord’s power is 
  that they very clearly do not control their land. There is a 
  saying that in New York, even the Shallows are Deep, and by 
  that they mean that the wilderness and the bizarre madness 
  that follows it comes on fast in the Empire State. 
   
  The Catskills are just such an example—a strange balance 
  between relaxing summer homes for the urban rich and the 
  ‘locals’—understated men and women who live year-round in 
  the sparse, seasonal retreats. Although these great tracts are 
  officially the property of one family or another, they are 
  virtually wild, and rumors of displaced witch-cults from the 
  Northeast and even stranger things abound. 
   
  Travelers are advised to enjoy the slow, laidback hospitality 
  of the small towns and summer inns, but not to stray or pry—
  they're warned to leave stones unturned. 
   
  The Invisible World 
  Although it is not generally known (and even more rarely 
  talked about) upstate New York is large a domain of the 
   
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  Fey—fairies, pixies, and other ancient spirits. By and large, they live beyond the sight and 
  notice of mankind, but there are remote places that they guard jealously and once in a very 
  long time, an elf or sprite, or other strange spirit will come upon humankind with a 
  grievance or a request. 
   
  Although these creatures are not evil in direct spiritual sense, they lack a conventional 
  morality and can have terrifyingly cruel or even psychotic sense of humor. Those who know 
  them find the disturbing at best, terrifying at worst, and best avoided in almost all cases. 
   
  Niagara 
  Upstate, far from the coast and the city, New York borders the Great Lakes and the Niagara Falls. 
  These are firmly within the shallows,  and they are well under the influence of magic. The Falls and 
  the Lakes are nexuses of magical energy, each with its own retinue of spirits. The Falls are oracles; 
  the lakes, portals. 
   
    
   
  Delaware 
  Just as Maryland is about as far north as you can go and still be in the South, Delaware is as far 
  south as you can go and still be in the Middle: Delaware is not New England. And in much the 
  same way that Maryland is a mix of both North and South sensibilities, so Delaware is a 
  combination of the middle-colonies’ progressive outlook and the Southern colonies’ rural economy. 
   
  Delaware has also embraced the industrial revolution, and is the home of some of the most 
  innovative and important chemical industries including Dupont.  
   
  New Jersey 
  New Jersey, much like Connecticut, profits from location. In this case, its proximity to both New 
  York and Pennsylvania make it a key location those with the means to do business in both places, 
  but the desire to live in neither. 
   
  Jersey has its own industry and its own advance economy (supporting a variety of agricultural, 
  industrial, and financial concerns, but it is also a successful vacation resort town—the mirror image 
  of the Catskills, with beautiful coastal resorts and quiet beachfront communities that come alive in 
  the summer and hibernate from fall to spring. 
   
  The Jersey Devil 
  New Jersey, being a narrow, costal colony is about as sane as any colony is likely to be. 
  The forces of magic are generally tame there; under control. But not always. In 1735, a 
  woman named Leeds gave birth to her thirteenth child—and instead of a human, it was a 
  hideous creature. 
   
  Descriptions vary, but it has the head of an animal, bat’s wings, and cloven hooves. Some 
  say it has a reptilian or rat-like tail. Other say it has hooks for hands. 
   
  There are a few facts that can be agreed upon—it is incredibly tough; difficult enough to 
  hurt (even with shotguns) and almost impossible to kill. It is also cyclic, awakening and 
  coming forth to devour children and young women of marriageable age.  Once awake, it will 
  continue to terrorize the community (South Jersey) until it is wounded badly enough that it 
  is driven back. It usually stays away 100 years or so before it returns. 
   
  Over they years and decades and centuries, several expeditions have been launched to 
  find the Devil and capture it, ending its reign of terror once and for all. Most have found 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  nothing—a few have disappeared. There is a documented account of one case in which the 
  creature was captured while it was rampaging—caught in powerful metal-cable nets. 
   
  The details are unknown because none of the capturing party survived, but it is clear that 
  while the Devil, itself, was contained, something even more powerful came in the night, 
  freeing the Jersey Devil and consuming its captors. 
   
  Atlantic City 
  Just off the New Jersey Turnpike is Atlantic City—the largest gambling emporium in the New World 
  and the second largest world wide (Monte Carlo beats it barely). It boasts a dazzling array of 
  casinos down its strip: brilliant lights, showgirls, magic shows, and casinos. It also has the dubious 
  honor of being the premier vice den of the 13 Colonies. 
   
  Every one of the seven sins can be indulged in  Atlantic City: wrath in underground arenas, lust in 
  the neon-lined bordellos, gluttony in the buffets, greed and envy in the glittering gambling parlors, 
  and so on. It is a major target for the northern church and a constant strain on the police forces that 
  must control it. There is dark magic under the surface in Atlantic City (paradoxically one of the 
  brightest lit metropolises in the world) and nothing signifies this like the Soul Bet. 
   
  The Soul Bet 
  Gambling is a disease, and when it runs its course in Atlantic City the victim is often left 
  without even shards of self-control. When a man is down on his luck, plunged into debt, 
  and chasing the dream of winning, that's when the Operators come into play. They might 
  appear as other gamblers, seductive women, or even employees of legitimate casinos. 
  They know what its like to lose—they can sympathies. They can also hook you up with one 
  of the hole-in-the-wall illegal loan houses—one of the sinkholes in the moral fabric of the 
  world.  Exactly how it works varies—and who is behind it is a source of much debate—but 
  the sucker is given a contract, and glittering stacks of money, for a marker against his soul. 
   
  There are sciences for extracting the essence of a person—for bottling his soul (this is 
  sometimes done as a sort of twisted "life insurance policy" by criminals). These leave a 
  shallow husk of a person—an intellect with no great drive or passion … and often a 
  resonant streak of evil or cruelty in its place. The Soul Houses don't take the soul right 
  away—they put a lien on it. The person is said to feel a tug in his very heart, a hook in his 
  chest and thread that leads elsewhere. The mark has until dawn to pay off his marker—or 
  he dies.  A soul goes for about $4,000.00 usually, but its all up to what the mark is willing to 
  pay. The Operators and their men in the soul houses (invariably closed and empty if the 
  mark returns with the police) will pay much greater sums for rich men's souls. 
   
  The Fun House 
  A hotel-casino that was built by organized crime and is rumored to have a whole graveyard 
  of victims buried in its foundations. It has a carnival theme and a bad history. Suicides are 
  swept under the rug, staff tend to quit after a few years of the graveyard shift, people check 
  in and don't check out. Its gambling floors are twisted halls—what looks like a blind corridor 
  has slot machines glimmering in the darkness. Behind a staff door is a private Black Jack 
  room. The sub-basement—the last button on the elevator is a members only private poker 
  house where the suits on the cards are each a small picture of some form of debauchery.  
   
  The Fun House's front is friendly and normal enough: it has a reputation for having big pay-
  outs (and these are somewhat deserved). The tales that circulate, however, are that the 
  secret rooms and hidden machines in its belly are where the major action is. It could only 
  exist in Atlantic City: a massive human Venus flytrap for humans. The police will tell you 
  (truthfully) that there are no more verified disappearances in The Fun House than 
  anywhere else. Jersey Gambling Commissions have never found anything amiss. In fact, 
  the Fun House Management actually hire fewer ghost hunters or investigators than other 
  comparably sized hotels.  
   
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  But the locals don't believe that—they'll tell you about the couple that stayed there for their 
  honeymoon … and left … but they left empty-eyed and shambling and were found soon 
  after, their car pulled to the side, their bodies lifeless.  They'll tell you about the friend of a 
  friend who, invited to an "important" card game went in, searching the lower levels, called 
  from a house phone to say he had found it, and never returned. They'll tell you about the 
  13th floor where the elevator doesn't stop—and who stays there. 
   
   
  Pennsylvania 
  Founded by the Penn family heir (who had converted to Quakerism) it was to be a place of religious 
  freedom that even the other colonies didn't enjoy (the Quakers, who rejected even the Puritan's 
  reliance on ritual were prosecuted in the early colonial era). It is a gorgeous expanse of land and 
  the birthplace of Western Democracy.  
   
  At the present time of the 13 Colonies it is the home of Philadelphia and one of the most populous 
  and prosperous colonies in the New World. 
   
  Philadelphia PA 
  The home of government both in The Dream and in the 13 Colonies, Philadelphia is the seat of 
  government for the Continental Congress. It is, to an observer, a very modern city: glass high-rises 
  soar overhead. The colonies only working monorail winds through town (a gift from The World of 
  Tomorrow). Where New York (the colonial seat of commerce) is an ancient gothic metropolis, 
  Philadelphia has been built and rebuilt in the name of progress. 
   
  The Continental Congress (1774) 
  In Carpenter's Hall, on October 5th, delegates from 12 
  of the 13 colonies (all but Georgia) met to discuss 
  grievances with the crown. At the time, the idea of 
  succession was rejected as overly radical (although 
  import and export restrictions against England were 
  agreed upon). As within The Dream, this was a 
  preliminary meeting—a sense of things to come. 
   
  In April of 1775, after skirmishes at Lexington and 
  Concord, the second Congress convened. It was 
  here that the Colonial Army was created (under 
  General George Washington). It would be the next 
  year (1776) that the Declaration of Independence 
  was adopted. 
   
  The Congress began as a loose, weak government. 
  In The Dream, after the Revolutionary War with 
  things starting to spin out of control its members 
  realized that they had a chance to create a state—a 
  great experiment—that would forge a new nation 
  founded on the principles of self-determination, 
  liberty, and justice. 
  Colonial Marshals 
  Within the Colonies the CBI has the general 
  responsibility for cross-boarder investigation. 
  Outside the colonies appointed Colonial Marshals 
  are the law (especially in the Shallows). Marshals 
  are either full time members of the Secret Service 
  (the personal protectors of the Colonial Congress) 
  or appointed from a variety of posts (military 
  police or even long-standing local police). 
   
  A Marshal, once given a writ has the full support 
  of the federal government. Unlike the CBI, when 
  a Marshal is assigned to a case, he can compel 
  cooperation from the state's authorities. Marshals 
  can also authorize surveillance and otherwise 
  bend rules.  
   
  An activated Marshal means that someone in the 
  colonial government thought that the situation 
  warranted the "big guns." 
   
  In the world of the 13 Colonies, this did not happen the same way although the spirit was, 
  and still is, the same—the colonies; in the year 2000 are every bit as dedicated to those 
  fundamental principles as their founding fathers were. 
   
   
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  The Declaration of Independence 
  "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the 
  political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers 
  of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's 
  God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should 
  declare the causes which impel them to the separation." Thus begins one of the most 
  important documents in both worlds. In The Dream it was the match that ignited the war 
  with England. In the world of the 13 Colonies it sparked a war—but of smaller scale. 
   
  The Independence War 
  Unlike The Dream, when the colonies went to war with England, the result was a few quick 
  battles followed by a standoff. The prevailing theory in both Europe and America was that, 
  while the colonies could be taken by England, they could not be kept. The European 
  powers realized that the land would become the focal point for a world war (The Great War 
  happened almost 200 years later—but the clear vision of the Independence War 
  represented was enough to stay their hand in 1776). After a few unexpected victories on 
  each side the war was over: the French Fleet was turned back by the British Navy, and the 
  colonies won the right of self-rule while still 
  paying homage to the English Flag. 
  The Colonial Bureau of Investigation 
  In a large, but non-descript building in downtown 
  Philadelphia is the CBI building. The CBI is the federal 
  police force that operates across colonial boundaries. 
  Its agents are known for their training and their solemn, 
  sometimes arrogant demeanor.  
   
  Local Force Liaison: CBI Agents often get assigned to 
  work for a period of time with a colonial police force—
  this is to promote cross training and (hopefully) improve
  relations between the forces. Usually it's tense at first. 
   
  Special Agents: The staple of the CBI, Special Agents 
  are well trained and usually armed with high tech 
  weapons (SMG's, pump shotguns, etc.) Many have 
  special magical training. 
   
  Jurisdiction: The CBI can't just "come in and take over." 
  They get writs of Jurisdiction from the colonies 
  governors on a case-by-case basis. They have almost 
  complete authority in the Middle but in the North and 
  South it's much touchier.  
   
   
   
   
  Today 
  Today, the British influence on the Colonies is 
  nominal. 
  The 
  Colonies 
  are 
  technically 
  considered part of the United Kingdom, but in 
  practice virtually all decisions are made locally 
  and the Colonies are expected to provide for 
  their own protection. 
   
  London's rule is felt mainly in the form of taxes 
  and 
  tariffs 
  and 
  her 
  navy's 
  control 
  of 
  international waters. The weight of distant 
  taxation (with limited representation) remains a 
  sticking point; an issue to which there has 
  never been a satisfactory resolution. 
   
  The Colonies rely on England for protection 
  from the other European powers; if the 
  Revolution came today, it is generally agreed 
  that they would be successful in throwing off 
  the yolk of British rule. Afterward, though, they 
  would be vulnerable to other foreign conquest.  
   
   
  Sights to see in Philadelphia  
  The seat of power, Philadelphia PA is the site of The Mall (a collection of governing bodies) as well 
  as other historic sights related to the formation of the Colonial Government. The Historical District 
  (where the Congress meets) has been maintained: a swath of low brick buildings on rolling green 
  lawns. Surrounding the District, however, are the economic symbols of might that have become the 
  symbol of the Middle States: glass walled skyscrapers, gleaming plazas, sparking fountains, and 
  boulevards and avenues with white statues of the great thinkers that drove the engines of the 
  colonies' governments. 
   
  Pennsylvania Street Hospital  
  Founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, it is a sprawling brick 
  complex on Pine Street with a high wall around it. While it was created both for the 
   
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  treatment of the sick poor and the care of "lunaticks" it became, in the years, primarily 
  known for the latter. Down below street level in the extensive dungeons the Asylum levels 
  became dedicated to the study of insanity. The cavern-like levels under the street stretch 
  out like roots of a strange tree. There are wards where the people interned see into other 
  world's futures. There are chambers for the containment of mad magicians. There have 
  been several scandals and some of the underground wings have been sealed due to 
  "treacherous vapors" said to have escaped from "unorthodox treatment." Today it is a far 
  more sane organization (and a very reputable hospital) but its dark past remains, sealed, 
  under the surface. 
   
  The Water Works 
  William Penn envisioned the creation of Pennsylvania as a city with a great deal of 
  greenery. The pump building was created to dispense 
  water from the local rivers to hydrants and lawns of 
  subscribers. The pump mechanisms proved unreliable 
  and the Fraternal Order of the Arcane were brought in to 
  see if it could be augmented. It worked—but the results 
  were unexpected. The building is said to house a 
  mystifying system of puzzle-like pumps and water gates. 
  Maintenance is tricky: the twisted interior has catwalks 
  that take the workers underground to the main pump-
  systems but to get up to the tower requires moving 
  through paths that are less well known. The Fraternal 
  Order of the Arcane maintains maps and notes—but has 
  often been reluctant to give them to outsiders. 
   
  The Mall 
  The Mall is an expanse of green lawn surrounded by 
  observatories. The observatories don't examine the sky 
  but instead are trained on alternate realities. There is one "observatory" for each of the 
  realities listed (besides the degenerate ones). The Zeitgeists reside within them—and can 
  sometimes walk outside.  
   
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
   
  The South 
  On Mason and Dixon 
  Noted historian Thomas Pynchon has given 
  us the definitive account of Charles Mason 
  and Jeremiah Dixon's exploits while 
  surveying the line. A fascinating and 
  accurate read in its own right, here are som
  of the highli
  e 
  ghts: 
  2. 
  tion, 
   
  rous 
  oss it without difficulty, 
  3. 
  se 
   
  s
  Quakers 
  4. 
  e 
   
  nd, 
   device designed for 
  astronomical observation. 
   
  1. The Mason-Dixon line was 
  designed to settle a land dispute 
  between the Penn and Calvert 
  families (between which there is 
  still little love lost today). The 
  stones bear both seals. 
  In the years since its construc
  the line has become the only 
  artificial ley-line in existence. 
  Buildings that have crossed its 
  boarders have become severely
  haunted, unlucky, or unstable, 
  whereas forest areas that grow 
  around it have become treache
  and tangled. Major roads and 
  railways cr
  however.  
  Mason (a laconic and moro
  astronomer) was a perfect
  counterpart to Dixon (an 
  experienced land surveyor) who wa
  evicted by his hometown 
  for "drinking to excess." 
  During their travels they were 
  mistaken for necromancers and 
  sorcerers. This was a 
  misconception. Mason had a 
  background in Astrology while 
  Dixon was, at best, an amateur 
  summonser. The work was don
  with five instruments - two transits
  and two reflecting telescopes a
  most important, a zenith sector, a 
  relatively new
  Heading south towards the Tropic of Capricorn the line of 
  demarcation that separates the Middle Colonies from the 
  southern ones is the Mason Dixon line: a 233 mile artificial 
  boundary line marked off in 1768 by Royal British Astronomers 
  Mason and Dixon. It separates the boarder of Delaware and 
  Pennsylvania from Maryland and Virginia. 
   
  The stones that mark the line are not only a legal border but mark 
  a change in the society that lies on both parts of the line. In The 
  Dream, the Mason Dixon line was the point where slavery 
  ended—here it is where the Southern way of life begins (and has 
  endured for over 400 years). 
   
  Life in the Southern Colonies 
  The Southern Colonies, Virginia, Maryland, North and South 
  Carolina, and Georgia, are still, as they have always been—
  predominantly rural and agricultural. They are the breadbasket of 
  the 13 Colonies, supplying food to New England and the Middle, 
  and still exporting massive amounts of produce. 
   
  To have any power in Southern Governments one must own 
  land, but it doesn’t require much. Independent farms have it 
  tough, but making good use of even an acre is enough to qualify 
  for the status of gentleman. 
   
  The Great Houses  
  In the South political and economic might is intractably connected 
  to the land. Unlike the middle where wealth is concentrated in the 
  cities and the more economically egalitarian north where wealth 
  is spread more or less evenly throughout, the money and power 
  in the south exists on the plantations. The Great Houses own 
  most of the best land, running vast farms and exporting tons of 
  grain and cotton. If any of the New World can be said to have an 
  aristocracy, the South is the home of dynastic aristocrats. 
   
  But even here, where family and history are paramount, the 
  power is not all in the hands of the Families. Popular assemblies 
  give the small farmers and independent businessmen a voice in 
  government.  There are also subtle complexities to the economic 
  structure that make it difficult for even the most powerful families 
  to control everything—The South’s dependence on summonsed 
  labor places power in the hands of the Magicians—a group 
  notoriously difficult to control. This uneasy balance of power, 
  where the Landlords hold almost all of the cards has lasted and is 
  now accepted.  
   
   
   
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The Aristocratic Life 
  The massive wealth on the southern 
  plantations (where work is predominately 
  done by the poor and by magic) has created 
  a vast culture of leisure and luxury. Men 
  pride 
  themselves 
  on 
  being 
  perfect 
  gentlemen while women work to become 
  "southern ladies" with perfect manners. 
   
  Life in the Aristocratic South is a strange 
  mixture of rural farming life, with its cycles 
  and the humility of being close to and 
  dependent on the land, and an almost 
  European understanding of class and 
  manners. The idea of a “right” to rule has 
  been intellectually discredited, but one 
  doesn’t have to look very deep to find that 
  the southern aristocratic classes still have it. 
   
  And like the Europeans, they accept 
  responsibility along with those rights—a 
  responsibility to the people they employ and 
  govern and a responsibility to the Colony 
  they live in. Many Southerners are fiercely 
  loyal to their land; fiercely loyal, and fiercely 
  proud. 
  A Young Ladies Finishing Academy 
  A concept which does not apply much in the north, Finishing
  Schools ("where you go to get finished") are a staple of 
  southern life for young women (men, of course, have strong 
  rules of etiquette as well!)  
   
  Rules for Conduct 
  1. Be Humble 
  2. Be Courteous  
  3. Behave yourself 
  4. Be friendly 
   
  Dos and Don'ts 
  1. Always ask (never tell—the asking is a covert 
  demand!) 
  2. Please and Thank you are a must 
  3. Ladies don't eat large amounts in public or call men 
  on the phone 
  4. Never wear white shoes or carry a white handbag 
  before Easter or after Labor Day 
   
  Tutors, often imported from The Continent, handle education for the upper classes and the 
  curriculum is heavily tilted toward the classics, often emphasizing ancient languages and world 
  history. The Families maintain expensive connections with the European gentry as much as 
  possible struggling to keep up with styles and fashions from across the ocean. 
   
  Labor 
  The great plantations would not be possible without cheap labor. Some of this comes from 
  prisoners—in fact, the South is the home of many work-farms and penal colonies that cheerfully 
  accept imports from the other colonies and around the world. But that alone would not be enough 
  without the Help. 
   
  The Help refers to summonsed creatures—beasts of burden called by magicians and bound to 
  tirelessly till the fields. In another world, they would have been slaves, but in this one, they are the 
  children of magic. Even so, there are tensions. The Help must be intelligent—they cannot merely be 
  machines—and they are immensely powerful. Because of this, even bound, there is always the 
  threat that they may go rogue—rebel, or ‘malfunction.’ 
   
  This has happened, and the results, when it occurs, can be disastrous. Thus security—often private 
  and many times, magical—is a great business in the Aristocratic South. Most plantations have their 
  own private police forces. Many have small armies or even private intelligence services. Successful 
  detective services are some of the highest profile businesses in the urban hubs like Charleston, 
  South Carolina and Atlanta Georgia. 
   
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  The Poor 
  Even with the help, there is 
  still a great need for low cost 
  manual labor, and between 
  the economic turmoil of the 
  Middle, the strict conditions 
  of 
  the 
  North, 
  and 
  the 
  constant influx of immigrants, 
  there is always a surplus of 
  men and women with no skill 
  to trade on and no dignity to 
  lose by toiling in the fields.  
  The South has a place for 
  them 
  and 
  offers 
  a 
  subsistence 
  life 
  in 
  long 
  houses 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  endless sea of leafy fields. 
   
  Here, discipline (imposed by 
  the Plantation Bosses) and 
  work 
  are 
  what 
  matters. 
  Education, where it exists, is 
  minimal and life is hard. The Poor are not generally mistreated (troublemakers, especially 
  unionizers may be made examples of) but there are no misconceptions about what is expected. 
   
  Laborers on independent farms have it easier—their landlords and employers have less leverage 
  and so they have more power. For these people, yeoman farmers, a middle-class life is not out of 
  reach so long as the farm does well, and the markets hold. This collective spirit keeps idea of 
  democracy and freedom alive in the South. 
   
  Magic 
  Magic—the summonsing of help—is an integral part of Southern Life. Most families hire magicians 
  and rely on them for a steady supply of labor. Even with the “family wizard,” most houses are forced 
  to supplement their labor force during harvest with creatures summonsed by the Corporations run 
  out of the Southern urban hubs. 
  This creates a shadow aristocracy of magic users that exists behind and below the gentry class. 
  There is an ongoing dance of dependence and resentment between the family heads and the 
  skilled, magical employees. The Corporations represent unions of magicians, while the practice of 
  hiring and exclusively using a “family wizard” is an attempt to break the union’s hold. 
   
  The extensive use of magic also adds an element of instability. Powerful—physically powerful—
  magical creatures are necessary but dangerous. The threat of uncontrolled Help is as frightening to 
  the aristocrats as the threat of a slave revolt was in the Dream World’s Old South. 
   
  Finally, Magicians and sensitives are required to interpret the needs and demands of the Land, 
  itself. In the Southern Colonies, the Land is alive and intelligent, and for men to coexist with it, they 
  must understand its needs. Because this is so valuable and integral, most families cultivate this skill 
  within themselves, often in their daughters (who would not be chosen to run other parts of the 
  business). 
   
  The Land 
  Without Magic, the Land itself would be a blessing—it is practically endless, incredibly fertile, and 
  all but flat, with plentiful irrigation and steady, mild weather. The addition of Magic does not change 
  these things, but it adds another dimension—the Land, itself, has a memory and a perspective. 
   
   
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  The nature of the Magic in the Land is debatable. Some scholars believe that what we refer to as 
  ‘The Land’ is actually a network of spirits—spirits of this tree or that field, or that river, and so on, all 
  acting in concert and ‘speaking’ (The Land communicates obliquely—it does not actually ever 
  ‘speak’) as one. 
   
  Others see a more unified intelligence. They see the land as a sentient organism—made of many 
  parts, but all of the same cloth. 
   
  From a practical standpoint, it doesn’t matter—The Land, whatever it is, is a silent, subtle, but 
  undeniable force in the Southern Colonies. It has expectations and ways of expressing its 
  displeasure when they are not met. 
   
  Its first expectation is that it must be treated properly. Major construction, the development of 
  farmlands, the damning of rivers, and other actions with significant environmental impacts are all 
  investigate thoroughly and do not proceed with out the approval of the Land. 
   
  The second is that some of what it gives must be given back. This ‘tithe’ or ‘sacrifice’ is given as a 
  burnt offering and is usually done in secret, remote places. It is an act of gratitude and humility—
  something that the Families are often loath to display. 
   
  Finally, the Land has an interest of sorts in the affairs of humans. This is poorly understood and 
  difficult to interpret, but from time to time the Land will make requests or ask questions of its human 
  interpreters that have no relationship to the agricultural work. 
   
  The Land speaks subtly. Only the most sensitive or well trained can hear it, and interpreting what it 
  requires is as much a skill as a science. To hear it, one must be quiet and close to it and receptive, 
  and then perceive. As the listener looks and feels, he or she will begin to notice patterns in nature 
  around them—the behavior of animals, the tilt of tall grasses, the shadows of trees. 
   
  These things will not have changed suddenly—rather, they will always have been there, it is simply 
  that they are being noticed. But as the listener notices and asks questions (‘Land, may we dam this 
  river?’ or ‘Land, may we clear this field?’) the answers will subtly become apparent. Complicated 
  answers are particularly difficult to interpret and some listeners may require days if the Land’s 
  response is more than a simple Yes or No. 
   
  There are also times when the Land will make demands—signaling its desire for contact with an 
  abrupt or violent action, and then describing what it wants in its subtle, invisible language. 
   
  The presence of the Land is a constant factor in life in the South. It is one that is rarely discussed 
  (never with strangers or in polite company), but integral, non-the-less.  
   
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  38
  The Colonies 
  Virginia  
  Virginia was the first and one of the greatest of the colonies. 
  The South and Southern culture begins and is most perfectly 
  realized in Virginia – what is true of Virginia is true to one 
  extent or another of most of the Southern Colonies; like all of 
  the Southern states Virginia is an agricultural land and like 
  many, her cash crop is Tobacco. 
  On Being a Proper Gentleman 
  1. Proper English, please – a man is 
  judged by how well he is spoken. 
  Manners can be feigned, but true 
  breeding always comes through in 
  one’s tongue. A Gentleman will never 
  allow a vulgar or foul word to pass his 
  lips. 
  2. Proper Dress. Matching, Clean, and 
  Pressed are a minimum. Hats off 
  within buildings, please. And a 
  Gentleman attends the details—
  nothing betrays poor breeding like 
  scuffed shoes or an unmatched belt. 
  Accessories should be minimized, but 
  a Proper Gentleman is never without 
  a pen, a lighter, and a monogrammed
  handkerchief. 
   
  3. Proper Treatment of a Lady. A 
  Gentleman recognizes her presence 
  by standing when she arrives or is 
  excused. A gentleman always walks 
  between a lady and the Street. A 
  gentleman is generous and patient 
  and when calling on her at home, 
  pays respect first to her mother and 
  then to her. 
   
  Culture and Politics 
  Tobacco money underlies her political and social structures 
  and although her cities are the centers of impressive 
  commercial and political activity those who know Virginia 
  know that the true power and real leadership flows from the 
  Plantations.  The South, in general and Virginia in specific 
  has her aristocracy. To say that someone is a Southern 
  Gentleman is to say that they have been bred and schooled 
  to elite European standards. A Southern Gentleman comes 
  from money and it has been years (Generations, they say) 
  since he has had to work for it. 
   
  In the South it is important to know one’s place—both for 
  those who are born there and for those who visit. Protocol 
  and manners are expected—even Northerners ought to 
  know enough to hold a door for a lady. Improper English is 
  embarrassing—vulgar language is unacceptable. 
   
  While many Europeans (especially the French) find 
  America’s absence of aristocracy fascinating and laudable, 
  they often feel most at home in the lazy, gilded, ordered 
  world the South. 
   
  A crude generalization of Southern Culture (one that is popular in many Northern states) holds that 
  it is comparable the medieval world--Men and Summonsed Spirits work the vast tracks of land like 
  serfs of an earlier age, while their Lords look down from great, named manor houses (Mt. Vernon, 
  Monticello). Meanwhile merchants and artisans labor in the cities—free men, certainly, but always 
  aware of the debt they owe their betters. 
   
  There is some truth in this, but not complete truth. Virginia is not Medieval Europe and to think it 
  was would not only be unfair—it would be wrong. Virginia, for all of her retrograde ways (cultivating 
  the land is an ancient and demanding art—if it is done a certain way, under a certain structure, that 
  is because it is the most efficient way to do it), is also the birthplace of freedom. 
   
  Public government began in Hampton Virginia, and some of its strongest advocates were the 
  aristocratic statesmen who were utterly aware of the ‘leveling affect’ that education would have on 
  the men of Virginia. Virginia is a land that jealously guards and greatly respects her personal 
  freedoms. The strict social and religious rules of the Northeast are alien to them. So long as one 
  does what one does quietly and without creating offense then it is nobody else’s business. 
   
  Virginia expects a lot from her leaders—wealth comes with privilege, of course, but it also comes 
  with obligation. Some of the greatest statesmen of all time have come from Virginia and they have 
  made their mark on the state, the Colonies, and the world. 
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
   
  Norfolk and Virginia Beach 
  Norfolk and Virginia Beach are important shipping and vacation sites, especially during the 
  summer. Richmond, the capital, is quiet and reflective—some have described the city as a 
  museum and even for the world of the Thirteen Colonies, there is a pervasive sense of 
  history there. 
   
  The Great Dismal Swamp 
  Inconveniently close to Hampton Roads (a major metropolitan area), forest becomes 
  wetlands and then swamp. From the first, settlers resented such an obvious waste of 
  valuable real estate, and in fact, two syndicates--the Dismal Swamp Land Company and 
  the Adventurers for Draining the Great Dismal Swamp was formed for the purpose of 
  turning into timber and farm land by none-other than George Washington, himself. 
   
  This began a battle that, 400 years later, is still not over. The Swamp has swallowed 
  bridges, buildings, hundreds of men, and millions of dollars. Its boundaries have been 
  marked by drainage ditches and by sandbags, and the men who live at its edge have 
  formed an uneasy truce with it. The Swamp is ancient and strange. It is not just spirits or 
  ghosts, or oddly shaped trees—men who have been deep into it and returned talk about 
  find masts of ships… abandoned, rotting hulks, and other anachronisms that shouldn’t exist 
  this close to civilization. 
   
  Ghosts 
  These are civilized lands (the Swamp aside). There are few monsters as such in Virginia, 
  but there are many Ghosts. What’s a grand old plantation house without its ghost (Re: Belle 
  Grove or Chatham)? In most cases the idea of Ghosts add color—and for houses with long 
  and complicated histories, some ghosts are inevitable, but in the deep countryside, things 
  can get out of hand and sometimes the ghosts become real problems.  Ghosts are the 
  children of scandal and trauma—the expression of family secrets that ought to stay buried. 
  And when they are created by truly depraved events they can be terrifyingly powerful, 
  dragging the others after them. 
   
  Colonial Riddle: 
  Tittimus, tittimus, ti, toe, tee, Tie 
  two tubs to two tall trees. How 
  ma[n]y t's in that?  
  Answer: Two - in the word 'that'."  
  As one explores the Deep Virginia countryside, one 
  finds rotting mansions, abandoned to the spirits and 
  secrets that haunt them. As one explores the city 
  directories in small, prosperous towns like Lynchburg 
  and Arlington, one finds small, professional Ghost 
  Hunters who specialize in both troublesome spirits and 
  absolute discretion. 
   
  Roanoke 
  The first two attempts at colonizing Virginia were failures—the second is also a mystery. 
  The disappearance of the colonist from Roanoke Island remains unsolved in any world.  In 
  the world of the thirteen colonies, the mystery has more sinister undertones. Roanoke 
  island, itself remains sealed to the public. In the world of the thirteen colonies, the missing 
  settlers left some trace of what happened—their desperation in the face of abandonment by 
  the Crown and the onset of winter.  They made a pact with the Windego, and in the end, 
  they killed themselves, rather than face the reality of what they did. The details are still 
  locked away, the island itself, an eerie, empty tomb site. 
   
  Georgia  
  Georgia is the place they’re talking about when they say the Deep South. Remote and 
  disconnected from New England, and even the Middle colonies, Georgia is more a part of the 
  Spanish world than it is of the English one. Those who live in Georgia understand the existence of 
   
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  the more northward colonies, but they see them as being “over there” and not nearly as relevant as 
  what goes on “over here.”  
  As the Spanish presence has all but disappeared from the New World, Georgia has become a 
  peaceful place—wild in many parts, but the land and the men who live upon it generally live in 
  harmony. 
   
  Atlanta 
  Atlanta is the South's answer to New York: one of the most metropolitan urban centers that 
  isn't marked by being a port town (like Norfolk and Charleston). Atlanta is a city of 
  skyscrapers and mass transit (the MARTA runs just as it did in The Dream) but the 13 
  Colonies city of Atlanta is far different. 
   
  The Bank of Georgia 
  The largest international bank, the Bank of Georgia is responsible for 14% of the money-
  changing between the South and Europe. It is a massive 200 year-old institution which has 
  its own private fraud investigation team that works throughout the 13 Colonies under 
  special contract with the government of Georgia (it doesn't have jurisdiction outside of 
  Georgia but its agents often get cooperation). 
   
  The Atlanta Herald and Atlanta Examiner 
  There is no more vicious newspaper rivalry in the colonies (or the world) than that between the 
  Herald and the Examiner. Both have massive readerships throughout the colonies an through the 
  south there are places where allegiance to one paper means readers of the other aren't welcome. 
  Oddly, both cater to the southern aristocracy, hold similar views on economics, politics, and 
  religion, and otherwise share a similar (to outsiders) editorial voice. Both papers have their homes 
  in Atlanta and boast giant clock towers (the Herald's tower is 12 yards higher but the Examiner's 
  has a broader face by 2.3 yards and is visible a further mile off).  Both clocks famously keep time at 
  1.3 minutes slower (Herald) and faster (the Examiner) than the official Greenwich time. Adherents 
  can often be told by their watches being off-set by their paper of choice. 
   
  The Old Morgue 
  The Morgue contains the Lower Mausoleum that is the only "medical" research center for 
  the undead in the world. Held in tight (and very modern) security, the multi-chambered 
  'morgue' is staffed by scientists, scholars, necromancers, and doctors. It is said to house 
  vampires, skeletons, bottled ghosts, and things never seen outside of its magically 
  reinforced concrete walls. 
   
  Maryland 
  Maryland sits on the boarder between the cosmopolitan Middle and the Aristocratic South, both 
  physically and culturally. Just south of Mason-Dixon, it technically qualifies as a Southern Colony, 
  complete with a tobacco/agrarian economy, but also embracing the industrial strength of the north.  
  Maryland (particularly Baltimore) is also a railway and telegraph hub giving it a reputation as a state 
  that’s on everyone’s agenda, but is no one’s final destination.  
  North Carolina and South Carolina 
  The Carolinas began as land grants to the men who became know as the Lords Proprietors. Unlike 
  New York, where the land was given by the governor, the Carolinas were bequeathed by the King. 
  Over time, the Carolina’s connection to the throne has waned. These are regal states with their own 
  aristocracy, but they are American states, and their aristocrats are Americans (people of the 
  American lands—they are still, of course, technically under British rule).  
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  The West (The Frontier, The Shallows, and the Deeps) 
  The colonies, even the 
  people who live there 
  might 
  admit, 
  can 
  be 
  strange. 
  With 
  secret 
  societies, debates about 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  universe, and a federal 
  government 
  presiding 
  over three very different 
  societies it can seem a 
  place of social chaos—a 
  place 
  where 
  it's 
  impossible 
  to 
  know 
  everything that's going 
  on—a place filled with 
  the bizarre. 
   
  Think of magic like an 
  ocean: it is invisible but 
  very real—it is the flow of 
  Aether—energy, a force, 
  only those attuned to can 
  detect.  It flows from its source in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in South America and then spreads, 
  spilling over, down across the North American plains. As you 
  approach that invisible source of chaos and power things 
  change—reality itself warps. The colonies are on the shores of 
  reality. To head inland, westward from humanities toehold is to 
  venture into the unknowns: the Frontier, the Shallows, and then 
  the Deeps. It is the essence of magic and it is inimical to 
  technology and mass production. Heading westward into the 
  Frontier is wading deeper into this invisible sea. When you reach 
  the Shallows you're officially over your head. Further west into the 
  artery of magic that runs up the central continent and you drown. 
  Aether Flow  
  The amount of Aether is described as a 
  "Flow in Liters per Second" (for some 
  reason the Convocation of Sorcerers 
  has chosen to use the European 
  volumetric standard). 
   
  The measure is of the amount of "magic" 
  that flows through a liter of volume in a 
  given place. 
   
  0 – 100: Normalcy. At 0 Magic will not 
  function but above it there are subtle 
  effects. Europe exists at about 50 to 93. 
  101 – 250: Colonial. Magic is 
  prevalent—Events (statues coming to 
  life, for example) are possible and even 
  common. 
  251 – 500: Flux. The Frontier exists 
  around 350. Undead are more common, 
  mutation (Anamid children, grotesques) 
  become an all-too-common occurrence. 
  Technology and mass-production 
  malfunctions commonly. 
  501 – 999: Awakened. The Shallows are 
  'awakened.' Intelligence and will exist 
  commonly in in-animates. Only hand-
  made machines function. 
  1000+ Chaos. The Deeps exists at 1000 
  Liters per Second. Reality becomes 
  'fluid' cause and effect become shaky. 
   
  Aether 
  Aether is the invisible force—the carrier wave—the essence of 
  magic. As said above, it can neither be seen nor felt by normal 
  senses (although a human brain can be attuned to detect it) but it is 
  very real. It is the Aether that makes the world strange: it reacts with 
  the human mind and human perception having affects gross and 
  subtle (and local as well as distant) on the reality it permeates.  
  Aether Storms 
  The boundaries are not stable—they can shift (like weather 
  patterns). For the colonies this is inconvenient: a shift could knock 
  out power or radio temporarily. For the frontiersmen this is 
  dangerous: a shift to the shallows means monsters, weapon 
  malfunctions (get the muskets!), more strangeness than they're 
  used to. For the sparse settlements in the Shallows (mining 
  towns, mostly) this can be disaster—a village can cease to exist 
  or the people can change dramatically.  
   
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  The Frontier 
  Where the colonies end, the Frontier begins: a stretch of 
  several hundred miles (over 400 at its widest) of westward 
  sparsely colonized land that runs out to (near) the Mississippi 
  river. Much of the Frontier land was officially purchased from 
  France in the Louisiana Purchase and it is controlled by the 
  Continental Congress—not by any state in particular (similarly 
  the territories don't have representation in congress or their own 
  government). 
   
  The frontier is blessed with a relative normalcy: there are 
  mutations, true—and the New Tribes—and monsters—but there 
  is a logic to these things. Technology and the fruits of mass 
  production are unreliable on the Frontier but the limits on what 
  will and will not work are well understood. People come to the 
  Frontier looking for freedom, a chance to homestead their own 
  land (and, to a degree, live by their own laws) and to explore—
  for even out on the frontier there things change as the tides of 
  magic ebb and flow and there are things that no one has ever 
  seen before. 
   
  Out in the Shallows life becomes harder: the New Tribes are a 
  serious threat here, technology has regressed to the state it 
  was in when the New World was discovered—even Army 
  Tripods and Zeppelins are less effective here. Monsters are 
  larger—the world is hungrier. The world is far stranger too. 
  Spirits of the trees, rivers, and rocks get up and walk around. 
  Clouds speak, tornados can chase you down howling your 
  name, and settlements vanish without a trace over a winter.  In 
  the Shallows there are relics of the Dream World (although 
  more-so in The Deeps). Artifacts of a world that both was and 
  never was can be found—rarely are they functional. There is 
  gold (the relationship between magic and gold has never been 
  fully understood). There are great risks and great treasures in 
  The Shallows.  
   
  Past the Shallows human lands effectively end: the Deeps are 
  neither claimed nor colonized by man. They are ventured into, 
  at times, but they are not lands that are civilized—or rational. 
   
  Magic on the Frontier 
  Magic works normally across the frontier and into the Deeps. In 
  fact, it's the only reliable method of defense beyond swords and 
  (maybe) muskets as you go further west. The only thing that 
  doesn't work well from the west boarder of the colonies on 
  towards the sunset is summoned spirits. Out in the frontiers 
  loyalty binding breaks down, the spirits in the air and water 
  come to free the trapped spirits and even "well controlled" 
  spirits near the boarders can behave in eerie ways. As a result 
  the colonization of the Frontier and the Shallows was done without summoned labor or the use of 
  spirit engines. It was done with steam and muscle power—just like in the Dreamworld. 
  Travel Into The Frontier 
  --From the notebook of Clarence Briggs, 
  reporter for the Pennsylvania 
  Independent. 1928 
   
  The stagecoach driver showed us a 
  makeshift graveyard with some 20 
  graves—the work of the New Tribes and 
  the end of a group of Settlers caught 
  without protection. Our group is nervous: 
  none of us planned to see such 
  evidence of our potential mortality so 
  close to Vanceburg. I asked if such 
  things still happened and the driver lifted 
  his cap, apprising me and told me, 
  laconically, the graves were less than 
  three months old. 
   
  Vanceburg is a ramshackle affair where 
  the citizens wear their firearms at their 
  hips and the tradesmen sling their rifles 
  across their backs. There are horses 
  (and flies and dung) but no engines at 
  all—the town is silent of the noise of 
  modern life. 
   
  Even clothes tend to be in simple fabrics 
  or leather—native materials. I can hear 
  mechanical music from calliopes and the 
  tunes of an all-too-human (and none-
  too-good) piano player from the two 
  saloons that book-end main street. 
   
  The first thing I'm struck by, when 
  entering the town, are the grotesques. 
  I'd heard about frontier mutation but 
  some of these poor creatures are barely 
  humanoid—much less human. I see a 
  horse—a stately black stallion—marred 
  with two heads from its powerful neck. In 
  the bar (along side two filthy but human 
  prospectors) is a grotesque with a single 
  eye amid its wrinkled green skin. It holds 
  its dirty glass with three-fingered hands. 
  I am later amazed and appalled to find 
  that the very thing is, in fact, this poor 
  town's doctor … 
   
   
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  A Brief History of the West 
   
  1500+ 
  Spanish 
  Exploration: 
  The 
  Spanish explored much of the terrain 
  (find the Mississippi and trafficking 
  across much of the US in search for El 
  Dorado—see The Deeps). They found 
  many bizarre things; however what they 
  mostly found was death. 
   
  1755 The French-Indian War: The 
  French and English (mutually unhappy 
  with each other after many decades of 
  warfare) enlisted the aid of the New 
  Tribes. Fighting along a series of forts 
  both entangled the New Tribes in the 
  affairs of nations and involved action by a 
  young General George Washington. 
   
  1803 The Louisiana Purchase: France, 
  having difficulty controlling its territories 
  (save for the New Orleans port) sells the 
  land to the colonies after a period of 
  warfare. 
   
  1804 
  Lewis 
  and 
  Clark: 
  Colonial 
  President Thomas Jefferson dispatched 
  Captains Meriweather Lewis and William 
  Clark (with 31 other people including 
  Elder Tribeswoman Sacagawea) as the 
  "Corps of Discovery." They were to 
  explore as far west as they could go. 
  They 
  did—and 
  they 
  returned 
  with 
  impossible tales. They had encountered 
  moss-covered cities of glass, machines 
  that spoke and walked, towers full of 
  blue-glowing spheres of light that talked 
  in thunder-voices. Both were right-
  handed when they left and returned left-
  handed. The rest of the party (save their 
  guide) didn't make it. 
   
   
  1849 The Vein: In The Shallows (but at the edge of 
  The Deeps) in the territory known as Kansas, 
  prospectors found caves with unbelievably rich veins 
  of gold. With help from the Colonial Army, the hunt 
  was on. 
   
  1851 
  The 
  Mare 
  Imbrium 
  Express: 
  To 
  get 
  prospectors, miners, and others out to The Vein, the 
  Mare Imbrium Express, an iron train-line was built 
  and track was laid. It used (and uses) an 
  experimental steam engine that seems to be resistant 
  to the effects of the Aether. It is, today, the only 
  reliable train line that runs out into the Shallows and 
  is the subject of much Frontier mythology. 
   
  1853 The Eight Forts: The Colonial army built, in 
  the Kansas Territories, eight forts: Fort Leavenworth, 
  Fort Scott, Fort Riley, Fort Larned, Fort Hays, Fort 
  Dodge, Fort Harker, and Fort Wallace. These were 
  built as defense against The New Tribes (partially to 
  protect settlers and partially to protect some of the 
  veins of gold that had been discovered) 
   
  1853 The Winchester Rifle: The most common gun 
  (and the most reliable out to the Shallows) is the 
  Winchester repeating rifle. It was considered a 
  necessary and effective weapon against the Tribes. 
  Winchester, based in New Haven Ct., is one of the 
  best-known names in Frontier weaponry. 
   
  1910 The Tribes War: Under warlord Marrow-Eater, 
  the New Tribes attacked en mass on New Years Eve. 
  Fort Hays and Harker were destroyed. Entire 
  colonies were wiped out. Riding a "wave" of Aether 
  flow from The Deeps that shut down the Colonial 
  Armies war machines, they pressed East. There were 
  several brave and doomed stands, which managed to 
  delay them until the army could regroup and defend 
  the western Pennsylvania state boarder. Riding 
  parties came within 4 miles of it before being turned 
  back. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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  Life on the Frontier 
  Life on the frontier is hard compared to the colonies but far freer. If 
  you live fairly distant from the Shallows your life may even be fairly 
  'normal.' These are some of the realities of Frontier life. 
   
  No Radio—No Mail 
  After about 50 miles from the colonial boarder radios stop 
  working. Telegraphs go about 200 miles after that and then 
  they cut out (and they're spotty even at that distance). If you 
  live out on the Frontier you get your news from travelers, old 
  newspapers, and The Pony Express. 
   
  Monsters 
  Settlements have to contend with monsters—usually there is 
  a posse that is responsible for hunting and trapping any beast 
  that decides to feed on humans or their livestock. Some 
  colonies are blessed with having very little to fear—others 
  build walls of sharpened sticks and watch towers around their 
  towns. Graveyards are also of concern: the undead are not 
  necessarily more dangerous than a given monster—but many 
  find them far scarier. In cases where the beast seems 
  immune to conventional weapons the Continental Army will 
  be called upon. 
   
  No Electricity (well, Very Little) 
  Most homes are lit with oil lamps. Some towns have 
  generators (especially for emergency) but, again, these are 
  unreliable. It might take hours to get one started. Water and 
  Wind power is used where it can be but mostly it's 1800's 
  technology. 
  A Frontier Town 
  A visitor from the Dreamlands 
  would still recognize it—most of 
  the Frontier isn't as dusty as the 
  American Midwest was but the 
  standard of life is still the same: 
  1. A post office. Any town of over 
  100 people will have a post 
  office (sometimes part of the 
  mayor's office or sheriff's 
  office). 
  2. Saloons. The 'main street' of a 
  frontier town will usually have 
  one or two saloons or inns. 
  These may also feature dance 
  shows (or, in some places, 
  bordellos). 
  3. Laundry and Barbers.  
  4. Carpentry shops, leather 
  shops, clothing shops, and 
  farmers markets. 
  5. A general store (or two). 
  6. A chapel and a morgue. 
  7. A doctor—and, possibly, a 
  lawyer. 
  8. A town hall (where meetings 
  and elections are held) 
  9. A town paper. 
  10. A school. 
  11. Magician's shop. 
   
  Frontier Justice 
  The Territories are 'Federal land' meaning they fall under the Continental Congress' code of 
  laws. However, out there, there it's all up to who wants to enforce them. Hangings, mob 
  justice, and range-wars are part of the territory for anyone who ventures away from a major 
  trail or railway. 
   
  Mutation 
  The presence of the Aether flow means that mutations are a way of life on the frontier. 
  Anamids, people born with animal characteristics, are a reality near the Shallows. There is 
  a stigma in that these people resemble the New Tribesmen—the enemies of man. Most 
  towns get by with these mutations (and the Frontier is certainly more understanding, in its 
  way, than the colonies)—but life for the Anamids isn't easy—even here. Worse are the 
  'Grotesques' who are mutations—but aren't even remotely human looking. 
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  Frontier Morality 
   
  It is said that Undead are the children of scandals. Whether this is true or not, it does seem 
  that colonies where evil is done may have a higher incidence of … backlash. Witches are 
  feared, hated, and sometimes killed. A person who commits evil and hides it with his rank 
  and privilege is believed to bring tragedy to a town. It is said that the dead who are killed 
  unjustly are the most restless.  This extends to things like gender roles, church attendance, 
  and respecting ones elders. While the Frontier can be a place of extreme personal 
  freedom, many colonies are just the opposite: they believe (and may be correct) that lapses 
  in moral character come back immediately to haunt the 
  townsfolk who allow them! 
  An Unusual Encounter 
  --Continued From the notebook of 
  Clarence Briggs, reporter for the 
  Pennsylvania Independent. 1928 
   
  The Excavation site of the giant statues
  (from the Dreamland?) is some twenty-
  seven miles north of town in a dense
  forest. The instructions from my editor
  have been to secure a guide and
  journey to the location to complete the
  story. I cannot wait to get out of here! 
   
  My camera man had taken it upon
  himself to secure our guide (and
  protection) while I waited in our room at
  the Inn. When he returned and I went to
  meet with his hirelings I was appalled. 
   
  It seemed, to me, when we took our
  seats, that he had found himself a
  prostitute and a dwarf guide. I was,
  however, astounded to discover that my
  assistant had taken the woman as a
  guide—and the dwarf (a man no larger
  than a tall child) as a guard.  
   
  I set about berating him on the spot
  since 
  such 
  behavior 
  must 
  be
  immediately and emphatically corrected
  in one's subordinates. Through some
  part of my tirade I said something which,
  it seems, offended the honor of our
  chosen guide in the dwarf's opinion. 
   
  Although I cannot say exactly how this
  happened, I found myself suddenly
  supine on the floor, my head ringing and
  the dwarf (a most disagreeable fellow)
  perched atop me, driving his knee into
  my spine at the base of my neck. He
  held me such (and he was strong for his
  size) that any attempt to move caused
  me immeasurable agony. Furthermore,
  he demanded that I apologize to the
  woman who was, he said, of some noble
  heritage. I had little choice. 
   
  The New Tribes 
  The New Tribes are a constant threat (and the closer to the 
  Shallows, the more threatening). Signs of Tribal activity are 
  often cause for panic on the Frontier and the Shallows.  
   
  Explorers, 
  Adventurers, 
  Prospectors 
  And 
  Fools 
  For the brave (and foolish?) there are many jobs to be had 
  out on the Frontier. These are, it is said, not boring and one 
  had better believe it when one is told that excitement is the 
  brother of danger.  
  Surveyors 
  Map-making, Cartography, and Exploration will often get 
  one a grant from Rand McNalley or the National 
  Geographic Society. Surveying is hard work—and difficult 
  (and often dangerous).  Navigation L3, Astronomy L2 
  Pony Express 
  The Pony Express still rides on the Frontier—there's no 
  other way. The Mare Imbrium Express brings bushels of 
  mail out with it—but it still has to be moved north and south 
  off the line. Brave riders work tirelessly to bring messages 
  and parcels to settlers and frontiersmen. 
   
  Prospectors 
  It's unclear as to what, exactly, the relationship of magic to 
  gold is—but there's little doubt that there is one. Streams 
  are panned, mines are explored, and so on. In the Frontier 
  proper most of the veins seem to have been found—but in 
  the Shallows (especially along the far boarder) it is believed 
  there are motherloads yet to be found … and then there's 
  always El Dorado. 
   
  Guides 
  There's always room for a guide out on the Frontier. If one 
  has magical blood in them of any sort a relationship with the 
  land can be turned into a solid career. Close to the Deeps, 
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  not getting lost is worth every penny to anyone who values their lives and sanity. 
   
  Gambler 
  Although not the most productive (or welcome) 
  profession, a good gambler can find action all along 
  the frontier. Cards and dice are a common way to 
  pass the time. 
  An Unusual Encounter 
  --Continued From the notebook of 
  Clarence Briggs, reporter for the 
  Pennsylvania Independent. 1928 
   
  The night before leaving I ventured
  down to the local saloon—the Aces and
  Eights—for the horrid 'slice of life' piece
  my editor had insisted upon. The
  establishment was a filthy affair; the type
  of place that put gunpowder in the
  alcohol. 
   
  I was not surprised to see several
  games of cards at the tables (and the
  attendant magical detection coins that
  spin on their sides when a spell is in
  effect). I was, however, disappointed to
  see both the head deputy and the town
  Barrister engaged in such activity. 
   
  When I enquired as to how two of the
  towns foundations of morality could
  engage in gambling in plain sight, I was
  told (abruptly) that in town everyone
  gambles—and that, it was said—you
  gambled with your life so only fools were
  squeamish with the cards. I slept
  particularly poorly that night (only in part
  due to the bed's stiff mattress). 
   
  Our party set out early and at the first
  ridge I had a chance to actually see the
  legendary Mare Imbrium Express. It was
  (I was told) Engine 3 and it was on time.
  We were at a distance but I could feel a
  sense of power—of presence—that I've
  never felt from a train. 
   
  In the colonies the trains have become
  modern and sleek (and powerful) but the
  black iron of the Mare Imbrium (and its
  bizarre telescope-car) steaming across a
  high curved bridge, belching fire had an
  elemental presence the trains in the
  colonies don't match. 
   
  I've heard it said that even the New
  Tribes don't attack The Mare Imbrium
  and I believe it. We could hear its horn—
  like a foghorn—rolling across the forest
  towards us. I felt like it could see us as
  tiny horse-mounted figures down below.
  It was an uneasy feeling, like a rodent
  might feel under the shadow of a hawk. 
   
  Bounty Hunter 
  Bounties may not be the principle form of securing justice 
  along the frontier but they are a popular one and some 
  people make a living off collecting them. This is touchy since 
  the big bucks usually go to live rather than dead. 
   
   
   
   
   
  Price Lists and Gear 
  Any expedition out to the Frontier (much less the Shallows) 
  will need to be properly equipped. While this is not a 
  comprehensive list of what gear might be needed for such an 
  expedition, it is a sample of what one might wish to purchase. 
   
  Weapons 
  The Colt and Winchester weapons listed in JAGS Small Arms 
  (special thanks to William Miller for compiling the list) are 
  standard. Choose any weapon listed as entering service in 
  the 1800's.  These are common in the hands of civilians as 
  well as the military (see the 1874 Gatling gun). They are 
  plenty deadly and quite reliable. 
   
  Gear 
  The General Store will have items almost identical to the 
  standard gear listed in JAGS Fantasy. Instead of using 
  crowns, multiply by 5 and convert to dollars. 
   
  The Pony Express 
  One of the most honored institutions on the Frontier (and 
  romanticized in the colonies) is the Pony Express. The mail-
  delivery system, its riders are seen as more than a parcel and 
  letter transportation system: the Pony Express is seen by 
  those on the edge of civilization as a lifeline that connects 
  them to the rest of the world. 
   
  Pony Express riders use horses but there are cases where 
  some applicants have a special relationship with an unusual 
  beast. These are unsanctioned (the Colonial Mail system 
  doesn't technically allow its packages and envelopes to be 
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  sent by anything other than a standard carrier). In practice, however, if a kid has a winged steed, 
  the frontier branch of the express would have to be foolish to turn him down. 
   
  The Mare Imbrium Express 
  Steam driven trains are mostly reliable in the Frontier—but in the Shallows they fail. All but the 
  Mare Imbrium Express, that is. The Mare Imbrium was commissioned when prospectors discovered 
  a massive vein of gold in the Shallows. Beyond the reach of conventional trains, the Colonial 
  government commissioned a standard line to build a train that would reach the Shallows. It had to 
  have an engine that wouldn't fail under a heavy Aether flow. 
   
  The job was given to Dr. Edward Eugene Everett, a mechanical genius (twenty patents to his 
  name) and somewhat trained magician. He worked for eight months to design the Everett Engine—
  there are four in existence, these trains comprising the Mare Imbrium Express—the only train line to 
  run into the Shallows (and some say, even the Deeps).  The Express is a strange beast: over the 
  years (and it has run for 150 of them) it has been modified 
  (slightly) examined (to no effect-no one knows why it works the 
  way it does), and used extensively. The engineers that make 
  the run to The Vein (not the original find—the supply of gold 
  keeps going westward and is now at the very edge of the 
  Deeps) are members of a closed society that is very specific 
  about who is accepted (usually requiring at least 10 years of 
  work on another train line). 
   
  Legends of the Mare Imbrium Express 
  The run into the Shallows is not a safe one—the terrain 
  is not completely fixed (although the properties of the 
  rail do seem to leave the routes intact). It is said 
  (although investigations have never proven this) that on 
  some runs—on some nights—the train travels across 
  vast gray expanses of crater covered rock—that it runs 
  over chasms that are filled with stars instead of rocks—
  that above it, in the sky, are a whole string of moons like pearls. People have returned 
  claiming that stops have been made in towns that seemed to exist in The Dreamworld. At 
  least once the train has arrived empty—and departed, only to arrive in its home station with 
  double the number of passengers (half of whom seem to have missing time). 
  Rangers  
  Some of the most respected fighting
  men in the world are Colonial Rangers.
  The peace-keeping force out on the
  Frontier and in the Shallows, the
  Colonial Rangers are part boarder
  patrol, part police force, part special
  forces troop. 
   
  Rangers usually go out on lengthy
  deployments 
  (often 
  mounted 
  on
  horseback, usually in very small groups
  or even alone). They travel a pre-defined
  route, looking for trouble, rescuing those
  in danger, and bringing society to the
  Frontier. 
   
  The Telescope Car 
  Adding to the mystery of the Mare Imbrium is the telescope car. Early on (some say the first 
  journey—but records show that it was after the first year of operation) Dr. Everett made 
  some basic changes to the engine and added the Telescope car. This car mounts a large 
  astrological telescope of revolutionary design. The car (which comes behind the engine) is 
  filled with maps both of the terrain and the sky. It also contains nautical navigational 
  instruments. During the Mare Imbrium's run out to the Shallows the crew of the train take 
  measurements from the telescope (which is mounted on gyroscopes to keep it steady). 
  These are given to the universities and have proven interesting (the sky does appear 
  different in subtle ways as one goes west). However, there are those who say that the train 
  runs without tracks on some nights and the car is used to allow the crew to find their way 
  home. 
  The Continental Army 
  A common (and welcome) sight out on the Frontier is the Continental Army. The Continental Army 
  exists at odds with the rest of the colonies: it is a federal fighting force amidst a set of fractured 
  regional states. It exists because while each colony is responsible for its own defense, it became 
   
  49
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  50
  clear (in 1775, at least) that against a powerful enemy (then Britain, later The New Tribes) it would 
  take a combined effort. Note: there is also a Continental Navy (with each costal state having its own 
  militarized coastguard) but we aren't covering that here. 
   
  The army has adopted the British system of command: Officers and Enlisted men. Officers are 
  usually men of privilege. They come from the upper classes (in Britain this meant certain families—
  in the colonies it usually means money pure and simple).  The Enlisted men are the backbone—the 
  guys who do the dirty work (most of the fighting and dying and a lot of the tactical decision making 
  too). 
   
  Officers 
  Officers primary contributions to the force are money (they do fundraising for the Colonial 
  Army) and high-level leadership. They are studied and trained in the logistics necessary for 
  war. The best of them are excellent strategic level decision makers. 
   
  Enlisted 
  The Uniform 
   
  The Uniform of the Continental Army is 
  often far from uniform—funds being what 
  they are (or, more often, aren’t), 
  standardized clothing is sometimes a 
  luxury that’s difficult to afford. In the two 
  hundred and some odd years since the 
  Continental Army was founded, the u
  has changed littl
  niform 
  e-- 
   
  The uniform consist of ‘appropriate boots 
  suitable for all weather’ brown or other 
  dark-coloured trousers, white shirts, coats, 
  and (for most ranks above the lowest 
  enlisted), hats with cockades. 
   
  Insignia is displayed on the coat and 
  follows the following order—a function of its 
  serviceability and the respect for tradition. 
   
  Non-commissioned officers (Corporals, 
  Sergeants) and lower ranking officers 
  (Subalterns, and Captains) wear a single 
  epaulette (a decoration with fringe) on the 
  shoulder varying in color and location (left 
  or right shoulder) with rank. 
   
  Commissioned officers (Major, Lt. Colonel, 
  and Colonel) wear epaulettes on both 
  shoulders and. All commissioned officers 
  wear either a sword or a ‘genteel’ bayonet 
  as part of their dress uniform. 
   
  The highest levels (Brigadier and Major 
  Generals) wear blue coats with buff linings, 
  epaulettes on both shoulders, and silver 
  stars indicating rank.  
   
  There are further protocols for the display 
  of ribbons, medals, and other awards, as 
  well as decorations that vary by regiment. 
   
  http://www.walika.com/sr/uniforms/uniforms
  .htm 
  Enlisted men are volunteers (sometimes prison sentences involve a stint in the Colonial 
  Army as well). They handle the work of going out and 
  slaughtering the enemy. 
   
  Divisions 
  The Colonial Army's high command is located in Philadelphia 
  (it has regional headquarters in each state). It has two 
  divisions: the Regiments (24) of fighting men and the 
  Ordinance Division (responsible for the manufacture of 
  bullets, uniforms, and logistical support). In the field, the army 
  works like this: 
  � Conventional Weapons. Springfield Carbines, Colt 
  revolvers (for the officers), Cavalry sabers. 
  � Cavalry. In the Shallows and even in the frontier, 
  horse mounted troops are common and efficient. 
  Many prospectors in a tough spot (and even more in 
  the pulp novels printed back in the Colonies) have 
  crested a hill, pursuers close behind them to find a 
  division of Colonial Calvary on maneuvers! 
  � Artillery: Cannons (Mortars and Long Guns). 
  � Unusual Weapons: 
   
   
  Wells Machines 
  Armor usually means armored cars with 6-10 men 
  onboard and a .30 caliber machinegun on top. These are 
  highly useful within about 50 miles of the boarder and 
  start having breakdowns further in. For heavy-grade 
  operations near or even in The Shallows, MIT came up 
  with something else: Tripods. 
   
  The Tripods come in different flavors—some are small 
  and industrial looking. Others are very tall with spindly 
  legs. Some have a "Dry Flame Thrower" as a primary 
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  weapon, others rely on gatling guns and mounted cannons. They have gas and steam 
  engines and work semi-reliably even in the Shallows. 
   
  Specter Zeppelins 
  Take a hard bodied blimp and fill the gondola with gatling guns and ammo and you get 
  a Specter Zeppelin. Some have small artillery guns mounted as well. These can hover 
  above a battlefield and rain death on their targets. The New Tribes hate and fear 
  them—they are one of the most terrifying weapons in the Colonial Army's operation 
  (and they are valuable—almost never seen on the far frontier). 
   
  Mole Machines 
  These are highly magical devices but you wouldn't know it to look at them. They look 
  like train-engines with huge blades on the front. They dig—using subtle magics and a 
  lot of precision (but hand-made) mechanics they can move underground at almost 30 
  miles/hour. They carry up to 20 troops and give, as evidence of their passing, a faint 
  rumble above the surface. They are used for surprise attacks and assaults against 
  entrenched targets. 
   
  Gothic Cannons 
  Magical artillery pieces, these cannons have a mind of their own. They can't move but 
  they can fire (if absolutely necessary) by themselves and they have incredible aim. 
  They don't speak (at least not conventionally) but the gun crews swear they can talk to 
  them. Often the Gothic Cannons may know more about the state of an engagement 
  than the officers. They are said to have 'frightening' personalities. 
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  An Unusual Encounter 
  --Continued From the notebook of 
  Clarence Briggs, reporter for the 
  Pennsylvania Independent. 1928 
   
  We reached the site by late afternoon—
  our guide (who claimed she was a half-
  daughter 
  of 
  the 
  Elder 
  Tribes 
  …
  something I find both unlikely and
  overrated) became nervous. I surmised
  that she might have some 'history' with
  the men conducting the dig (since the
  laborers were prospectors and we know
  what their morals were like). Our 'guard'
  however, was very disturbed by her
  vague statements of unease. 
   
  I demanded we press on and was
  gratified when we found the excavation
  underway with no sign of disturbance.
  Dr. Halford of the National Geographic
  Society who was working with Harvard
  on the dig greeted us. I will be more
  descriptive in my final piece but I will say
  here that the site was disturbing. 
   
  The 'giant stone men' are definitely
  statues—they are not petrified giants—
  and they appear to have been buried.
  When we were informed that these
  pieces were both un-dateable (that is,
  probably originating in The Dreamworld)
  and non-magical (and therefore not
  animate) it became an interesting story. 
   
  I had expected iconic depictions of
  people but instead they appeared …
  grotesque: the figures (partially buried)
  were contorted. Hands were thrown up
  as though warding off some terrible
  sight, limbs were in some cases twisted
  as though broken. Heads were thrown
  back—but the hint of a face was not cast
  in a triumphant yell—more of a howl of
  agony. 
   
  The men had strung up lights and the
  Dr. had gotten a generator working (out
  here that's quite a feat—he told me he
  had 
  brought 
  seven 
  generators—all
  predisposed to work this far out—and
  only one had started). The effect, as the
  sun went down, was eerie. 
  Gambling 
  Card games and gambling are a big part of the life on the Frontier. 
  Here are rules for running a game of poker. These rules assume 
  that everyone has Gambling Skill. If a player doesn't have it, he 
  may roll against his RES at –2. 
   
  1. The cards are dealt. Each character gets a straight 10- 
  roll for the cards he gets. The more it is made by, the 
  better. 
  2. Each character rolls his Gambling Skill. The amount 
  made or missed by is added to the total. 
  3. The characters bet. 
  4. The rest of the cards are dealt and each character gets a 
  secret roll. The player is told the outcome but doesn’t see 
  the dice. Betting then proceeds as it does in normal 
  poker. 
  5. The character with the highest total wins. 
   
  Bluffing 
  A character with a weak score may choose to bluff. If that is the 
  case, he makes a Gambling roll against the other player's 
  Gambling Skills: at –1 for each point of skill they have above 10. 
  The player won't know what those numbers are (remember: Level 
  3 gambling ignores –3 points of modifier. Level 4 Gambling 
  ignores –6). The success of a Bluff is as follows: 
  • 
  Missed by –3 or more the players know his exact 
  score. 
  • 
  Missed by 0 to –2: players know his exact score 
  +/- 1-3pts (roll 2 dice: 1-3 add, 4-6 subtract. For 
  the other die, 1-2 is 1, 3-4 is 2, and 5-6 is 3) 
  • 
  Made by 1 to 4: Add +2 to the Bluffer's score. 
  • 
  Made by 5-9: Add +4 to be Bluffer's score. 
  • 
  10+: Add +6 to the Bluffer's score. 
  Each successive Bluff in a game is at –1. 
   
  Reading Other Players 
  The reverse of a bluff, you may try to read another player. This is 
  a Gambling Skill vs. Gambling Skill roll. A player may try this once 
  at Level 2, twice at Level 3, or 4 times at Level 4 per hand (only 
  once against one target). If made by the following: 
  • 
  Missed by 3 or more: The GM gives an inflated or 
  deflated view of the character's cards (as the target 
  would want). 
  • 
  Missed by 0 to 2: No read. 
  • 
  Made by 1 to 4: Get the original hand. 
  • 
  Made by 5 to 9: Get the original hand and first roll. 
  • 
  Made by 10+: Knows the exact score. 
   
   
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  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  Cheating 
  Of course, players will try to cheat. Here are some rules for cheating. 
  • 
  Card Mechanics: A player with Sleight of Hand 
  can try to either replace his cards with a better 
  hand or deal cards of a certain type to a target. 
  o
  A card mechanics roll is made vs. the 
  PER roll of the players (however, usually 
  only make it against the player with the 
  highest PER roll +1 rather than all of 
  them).  
  o
  At Level 3, PER rolls are at –2. At Level 4 
  PER rolls are at –4. 
  o
  Success will add +1 at L1, +3 at L2, +6 at 
  L3, and +12 at L4. 
  • 
  Characters with perfect memory will get a bonus 
  in some games. 
  o
  Normally the character gets +1 to his 
  Gambling skill rolls. 
  o
  In some games the character will get +3 
  • 
  Characters with excellent mathematical skills can 
  get an edge calculating the odds (especially in 
  complicated games). 
  o
  Mathematics at L2 will give a +1 if made 
  by 3+, at L3 it will give a +2 if the roll is 
  made. At L4 it will give a +4 if the roll is 
  made. 
  • 
  Characters may employ marked cards, mirrors, 
  or other methods of cheating. 
  o
  Cheating machines act as Sleight of 
  Hand 13-. The character must have a 
  Level 2 Trivial Skill with them and make 
  his roll (his roll isn't used—then the 13- is 
  rolled). If the character has L3 skill with 
  them the Sleight of Hand is   14-. 
  o
  If the character has the right conditions to 
  see someone's cards (or a properly 
  marked deck) they can see what the 
  other character's are holding. 
   
  Politics and Morality On The Frontier 
  People come to the Frontier for a variety of reasons. Some 
  come to escape criminal prosecution (few questions are 
  asked out there). Many come for religious freedom (while the 
  middle states have protections, those seeking seclusion—or 
  preaching corruption of the more popular religions find the 
  Frontier a place where one can practice with no interference). 
  Lots of people come to homestead (build on land, file a claim, 
  and work it). Then there are the occupations of trappers, 
  prospectors, and adventurers. Finally, where there are mines, 
  there are miners (and the attendant doctors, prostitutes, 
  innkeepers, bartenders, and others who support them). 
   
  People on the Frontier tend to be independent and self-
  reliant. Most ranches contain their own small forges for minor 
  work. Almost everyone owns a gun—and women are 
  An Unusual Encounter 
  --Continued From the notebook of 
  Clarence Briggs, reporter for the 
  Pennsylvania Independent. 1928 
   
  There has been a accident on the dig
  site. The workers say they discovered a
  chamber beneath the statues (perhaps
  connected to a platform on which they
  are mounted?) My photographer is
  nervous and I admit that I am beginning
  to feel ill at ease myself. 
   
  Back in the town I had a chance to
  witness 
  frontier 
  medicine: 
  In
  Pennsylvania the modern science of
  anesthetics is used when a wound is
  deep—before we left I observed the
  ‘doctor’ using almost pure alcohol both
  to ‘anesthetize’ the patient and to clean
  the wound (generous helpings of each
  and the man screamed). 
   
  Out here, the worker who had found
  what he described as a metal plate in
  white marble (with inscriptions? He
  didn’t describe any and we aren’t
  allowed down) has a hand that looks like
  a desiccated tree-branch. I’ve never
  seen a wound like it—it is most definitely
  magic. 
   
  Our guide has been spooked. She
  explained to us that she would be
  leaving within the hour. My photographer
  has told me he will leave with her (as is
  our bodyguard—something that does
  not surprise me). 
   
  Dr. Halford, however, assures us that
  the dig is safe—there is a lower than
  normal incidence of magic and no
  detected activity of any summoned
  spirits. He says that opening the
  chamber behind the metal plate will be a
  discovery that will be recorded in the
  Society’s Ledger of Important Finds. So I
  will stay on. Let the malcontents and
  superstitious frontiersmen return. 
   
  --Fragment 238. Last notation found at
  the vanished site of NGS 31101
  Excavation. No survivors. 
   
  53
  
  Copyright © 2001 Marco and Eric Chacon 
  routinely taught to shoot. Politics tend to be something of a spectacle but because communities are 
  so small, often the position of mayor simply means being "the first person to get blamed" rather 
  than  "the person in charge." 
   
  Magic 
  Magic is seen as an honest tool on the Frontier. In the Colonies magic has the trappings of arcane 
  history—on the Frontier a magician is expected to wear a suit and tie like a doctor or lawyer—and 
  to keep his trade "grounded" and "down to earth." Disturbing aspects of magic are expected to be 
  kept behind closed doors. 
   
  Religion 
  Church attendance is strictly optional—but just about everyone shows up now and again (usually 
  when things get rough). Some colonies have very strict rules—and they're respected. The run of 
  the mill Frontier town, however, has a very tolerant minister and a very varied congregation. 
   
  Women 
  The Frontier is a practical place but it maintains a veneer of "conventional" morality. Women who 
  are capable can (and will) do anything that's necessary. The only catch is that a woman who breaks 
  the illusion of propriety will find herself in an awkward social situation.  So long as a woman dresses 
  properly (long dresses), defers to the men socially, and isn't set out to be the leader the frontiers 
  people will likely ignore (but take advantage of) the fact that she can out-ride and out-shoot them.  
  When a woman starts drinking in saloons and beating up her male counter-parts she'll find social 
  problems similar to the rest of the C-13 society. Note: these are hardly insurmountable—a talented 
  person of any gender or race is welcome most places—but nasty looks, social snubs, and rejection 
  from the more proper ladies is the price for being socially odd. 
   
  Mutation 
  In the North grotesques are considered pitiable (diseased) and treated with sympathy (and they're 
  expected to cover up and not flaunt their inhuman appearance). In the South grotesques are 
  considered vulgar and are relegated to servant positions if allowed in polite society at all (there are 
  exceptions of course—but they're … exceptional). In the Middle colonies grotesques are generally 
  accepted (although many people mistrust them). On the Frontier, however, grotesques are seen as 
  "just like anyone else—just maybe a little uglier." 
   
   
   
   
   
   
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  The Shallows 
  Heading west eventually brings one to the edge of the frontier. When one moves into the Shallows 
  they will note that the change is subtle but often unmistakable. There is a feeling of being watched 
  (and, indeed, as many 'inanimate' objects have awakened animate spirits in the Shallows the 
  person could well be watched).  The night sky looks different—clearer—there are more stars and 
  dim, distant constellations. 
   
  Out in the Shallows all but the most well made pocket watches fail to keep accurate time (some 
  travelers carry watches or other devices designed to determine when the border is actually 
  crossed). Out in the Shallows (and the line moves from year to year—and sometimes shifts 
  dramatically as though with ‘Aether Storms’) superstition is closer to physics than mythology. 
  Technology is a risky, often losing, game and magic is powerful but can have unpredictable 
  consequences. 
   
  Who Lives Out There? 
  If you have to be hard to make it on the Frontier you have to be crazy to homestead in the 
  Shallows. Communities are either military bases (and serving duty out there is surreal) religious 
  colonies (some of the most oppressive puritanical patriarchs have moved west—all the way west—
  to create very secretive and very closed islands of humanity out in the Shallows), or mining towns. 
   
  What Happens There?  
  What is life like in the Shallows? If you decide to make camp out in the shallows, here are just a few 
  of the things you might encounter: 
   
  Dragons: There are ancient dragons that lair in 
  the Shallows. These are powerful enough 
  beasts 
  that 
  even 
  modern 
  firearms 
  are 
  insufficient to deal with them. They have been 
  described as preying nightly on wagon-trains 
  that venture too far, taking horses, people, and 
  even whole wagons themselves. 
   
  In 1897 Camp Legis, a small forward military 
  outpost, was found abandoned and empty by 
  the relief troops. There was no sign of attack 
  and the doors of the command center were 
  locked and barred from the inside.  After 
  sending word back of their findings, again, 
  contact was lost. A second group was sent. 
  They never returned (although a scout met with 
  them a day before reaching the camp). A detail 
  of Rangers was sent—they entered, swept the 
  camp, and left before nightfall. They reported 
  that everything was perfectly in order (the 
  soldier’s gear was stowed—from both units). 
  The only sign of distress was a letter that 
  consisted of a name (the name of the 
  Lieutenant in charge of the force) and a series 
  of numbers: a Fibbonacci Sequence that ended 
  in the high thousands. The line of writing simply 
  trailed off down the page in mid-number. 
   
   
  In 1922 an ‘automobile graveyard’ was 
  discovered 
  consisting 
  of 
  machines 
  that 
  belonged to the Dreamworld. One was in 
  functional condition: a 1958 Edsel Corsair. It is 
  still functional and running in the capitol. 
   
  In 1723 the ruins of a western city were found 
  (it is believed to have been St. Louis). The 
  buildings were covered with thick layers of 
  moss and over-growth and the area was 
  infested with carnivorous worms—however the 
  section was explored and several relics were 
  brought out. Less than a year later, in a 
  massive lightning storm, the city vanished. The 
  tract of land has been explored but shows no 
  sign of the Dreamland city. 
   
  In 1983 a group of travelers called “The Quiet 
  Ones” came to a settlement. They were not 
  undead but the animals were scared of them. 
  They 
  traded 
  unusual 
  trinkets 
  with 
  the 
  townspeople and treated them as though they 
  were ‘backwards’ or ‘simple.’ There was a 
  conflagration wherein it was discovered that 
  the Quiet Ones were some sort of humanoid 
  machines and were essentially immune to 
  gunfire or other standard weapons. The 
  settlement was all but lost in the ensuing battle 
  (the causes of which are unclear). 
   
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  Why Go? 
  The most sensible reason to go to the Shallow is following The Vein. It is known that in the 
  Dreamworld there was a great deal of gold in California—in the world of the Colonies there is gold 
  east of the Mississippi and even more in what would be the Midwest. Mining towns are very tense 
  places: people come en mass (usually building an extension to the Mare Imbrium Line if possible). 
  People, moving in groups, with guards tend to have a better time of it—and when the group first 
  arrives the Shallows often seem deceptively normal. Of course someone has to find those mines 
  and that’s where small teams of prospectors brave the dangers heading in. 
   
  The New Mining Towns 
  Spread out like multiple fingers from a hand at the very end of the Mare Imbrium Express are the 
  New Mining Towns. There are mines (many) on the Frontier and they are rough and tumble places 
  where it isn’t polite to ask too many questions and a man better watch his back and know how to 
  handle himself. Out in the Shallows are the New Towns. Here the clock (as determined by 
  technology) is turned back almost a century. The veins are richer and the life is crazier. Madness, 
  mutations more severe (and sometimes men go down human and come up … something else). 
  These towns are at the westward edge of reality. A traveler might find: 
  • 
  The Undead. Sure, the undead are everywhere—out in the Shallows a shop—you know the 
  one way outside of town—where the fur traders go—that one—the dark one—the odd 
  one—might be run by undead. Sure, if the locals could prove it, they might burn it down (no 
  good can come of it)—but it happens. Ol’ Ed will be sick—and then come back to work for a 
  few days before people realize he’s rotting. 
  • 
  Sky Cities. The deserts have their mirages and the Shallows have their Sky Cities. 
  Glimpsed in clouds are turrets and towers of stone—vast medieval castles on miles big 
  Cumulous clouds. In a world where the ‘impossible’ can happen, these are still regarded as 
  myth—no true reliable accounts have been claimed. 
  • 
  Himself. There are tales of gunmen shooting masked strangers dead only to remove the 
  bandana and see his own cold visage staring back. These tales end with the gunslinger 
  dead by morning. 
   
  Spirits of the Shallows 
  As in the South, the land in the Shallows is alive. In the South there’s a sense of presence to the 
  fields and the forests—in the Shallows these things can get up and walk around. Elementals are 
  common but in the Shallows entire places can have spirits instead of ‘merely’ their component 
  parts. These things can feel one way or another about the humans who come into contact with 
  them. 
   
  • 
  Spirit of the Netharwar Valley: Discovered in 1723 by the French (and a French/English 
  colony remains there today), the spirit of the narrow valley is one of the few that is friendly 
  to man’s presence. The ground between two high ridges is fertile and green. It is fed with 
  rivers from deep within the rock (and the caves boast hot springs). The spirit is powerful: 
  Tribe attacks have ended with the earth swallowing them up, during the depths of winter 
  game animals have come wandering into town, and politicians that have tried to exploit the 
  resources have been killed in sudden cave-ins. 
  • 
  The Velang River: The river has a spirit that is not friendly to man. Anyone even remotely 
  sensitive will start having nightmares anywhere near it. The river (running for a fifty mile 
  stretch along the boarder to the Canadian territories) is filled with things that eat people—
  but that isn’t enough: the river can change its shape, slithering like a snake to swamp 
  parties that venture close.  Bridges fail with people on them, suddenly collapsing, and after 
  a rain the river will stretch towards the nearby colony trying to reach it with deadly intent. 
  • 
  Storm Spirits: Out in the Frontier storms can ‘take it personal.’ In the Shallows, storms can 
  talk. Malevolent storm clouds can have personalities and roaring, thunderous voices. 
   
   
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  Cities in the Shallows and Frontier 
  There are two settlements in the Shallows and the Frontier that are large enough to deserve special 
  mention. They are New Orleans and St. Augustine. While they will not be detailed here (for they're 
  too complex to go into thoroughly) they will be mentioned. 
   
  New Orleans 
  New Orleans is a city that was founded—and has flourished—in the Shallows (they sweep forward 
  in the south and the delta of the Mississippi is flooded with Aether as well as water). New Orleans is 
  a dark city—it has secrets just under its skin. The Mississippi is the most valuable shipping lane in 
  the Western Hemisphere and arguably the most valuable in the world. The port at the mouth of the 
  river is simply too valuable not to exist: Shallows or no. When a traveler arrives, it even seems to be 
  part of the colonies (or better yet, part of the Old Country—New Orleans’ French roots are plainly 
  visible upon arrival). 
   
  But if one stays there for any period of time, they will quickly become aware that it really only a 
  façade of a city—it is neither normal … nor sane. 
   
  The Celebrations 
  The existence of New Orleans itself is a dance. Located in the Shallows, the city of brick and 
  cobblestone (and worked iron gates and stone crypts and statues and fountains and …) is more like 
  a sandcastle built before a rising tide. It exists—and continues to exist—because of very subtle 
  manipulation of the Shallows: the Celebrations. 
   
  Bringing Catholicism from Spain, the city’s outward religion is patterned after and most resembles 
  that of the Roman Catholic Church (and indeed, most of the population might claim to adhere, at 
  least somewhat, to that religion). However—it isn’t that clear-cut. 
   
  Special nights (Saint's Nights) are celebrated in New Orleans. These celebrations (which are 
  described as street filling chaos and debauchery by some visitors) are not simply revelry. They are 
  part of the mechanics that allows New Orleans to exist in the Shallows. The Saints may have some 
  form or relevance to the Catholic Saints—but there are other spirits at work as well in the Big Easy. 
  These celebrations are like hurricanes of emotion—tempests of order and chaos—that allow at 
  least the illusion of a structured city (and a lucrative trade port) to exist intact over the decades. For 
  travelers unaware of the customs and expectations these can seem absurd, debased, and 
  dangerous. New Orleans, on one of the Saint's Nights (and there are many, usually one or two a 
  month) is not a place for a foreigner to be caught out alone. 
   
  The Ruling Class 
  On paper New Orleans is a self-governing province under the Colonial rule (it was founded by the 
  Spanish, sold to the French, and finally wound up in the hands of the Colonial government). In 
  practice there are poorly understood organizations that rule the city. There are spirits that dwell 
  there, and there is an underground population that some say is larger than the day-light citizens. 
   
  The Krewes: The krewes are semi-secret fraternal organizations of the wealthy (and in New 
  Orleans that means magic and mutation and a lot of other things). They are a shadow 
  government—a network of secret societies that overseas the city’s day-to-day operations. 
  They are the upper crust and they control the celebrate in ornate Mardi Gras Celebrations 
  with floats and Parades. On the night of Mardi Gras, the array of poverty and plenty is 
  played out symbolically across the city. Candy, coins, and beads are thrown to men who 
  pretend to beg and women who pretend to offer services. During this celebration (as well 
  as others in New Orleans) the dead walk the street (in disguises), odd beings known as 
  The Saints (which are dangerous to ones mind to encounter sober) materialize to take part, 
  and street performers and black magicians parade their works in public. 
   
   
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  The Dead: All cities in the New World (and less obviously in Europe) are plagued by the 
  Undead. In New Orleans they're part of society. Vampires live in ornate estates in New 
  Orleans. The Necropolis graveyards (built because with the water-table caused by a rising 
  Mississippi underground bodies tended to become above ground floaters) are vast cities of 
  the dead. They are beautiful, silent places during the day. They can be terribly dangerous 
  at night.  Few living people have learned the tightrope-walking dance that is required to 
  mingle in the vast stretches of tombs that exists outside the cities. 
      
  The Under Class 
  In New Orleans there are leprosy stricken beggars (and many with magical diseases that might 
  appear similar but do different things). There are textile plants and factories where the less 
  privileged work—but the poor serve another purpose in New Orleans: they are their master's 
  subjects. Corruption is taken for granted—the society is driven by power. The common people from 
  the poor shopkeepers and street sweepers to the gutter people and beggars are pieces in an 
  intricate game of social chess. Some are prey for the Vampires. Some are protected as worshipers 
  by the churches (and Catholicism isn't the only religion practiced in New Orleans—Witchcraft and 
  Southern religions are alive and well just under the surface). There is a King of the Beggars (usually 
  dressed in motley and attended by harlequin clothed courtiers)—he is as much royalty (and as 
  dangerous to cross) as the lords and ladies in their estates. 
   
  St. Augustine 
  Down south in Florida is the oldest remaining New World Settlement and fort: St. Augustine. Owned 
  by the Spanish, it sits in what is technically the Frontier—but Florida is full of wild, carnivorous 
  jungle and it's far more like the Shallows than the comparatively sane and orderly towns of the 
  North American west. 
   
  St. Augustine is an active port—there is a moderately large settlement there and the fort that makes 
  it a good place to run from storms or pirates. For the short-term visitor it is a place with a truly 
  ancient history by New World standards and a beautiful place (historical homes, narrow 
  cobblestone streets, and the fort and port make it destination for many rich couples on 
  honeymoons).  
   
  Under the surface, and outside the town limits, however it is far from normal.  The Florida jungles 
  and New Tribes are vicious and hungry. The fort—despite appearing somewhat idyllic is staffed 
  with committed soldiers who have to mount a serious defense against Tribes and monsters—and 
  the jungle itself. Carnivorous plants (many of which appear quite beautiful), swarms of man-eating 
  insects, jungle diseases considered fates worse than death, and the ancient spirits of old ghosts are 
  all part of the hidden character of the New World's oldest city. 
   
  The Fountain of Youth 
  When Ponce de Leon came to the New World under orders of the King of Spain, St. 
  Augustine was where he put his base of operations. He was searching for the fabled 
  Fountain of Youth.  Although it is recorded that he died having failed, the warm waters of 
  the Caribbean are filled with small settlements and tales of a pale-skinned Spanish pirate 
  who has worked with his crew, massing tremendous wealth over centuries of plunder. 
   
  The Stone Estates 
  Several very wealthy people have attempted to tame the Florida coast—only St. Augustine 
  has remained but up and down the coast are failed, jungle filled relics of the attempts. 
  These haunted abandoned mansions are hideouts for pirates, targets of treasure hunters, 
  and mysteries to be solved. 
   
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  The Deeps 
  The further west you go the stranger things get. The Frontier is 
  the bright line between lands men have tamed and now own 
  (this ownership is often in question—the Frontier shifts with 
  attack and counter attack, seasons of growth and seasons of 
  wane). Beyond the Frontier are the Shallows, where magic 
  becomes more powerful than reason. 
   
  But there are lands stranger still. Beyond the Shallows, where 
  the earth becomes dry and barren, there are the Deeps. The 
  Deeps are unknowable. They change constantly, growing and 
  evolving, and then collapsing back upon themselves. The 
  Shallows, at least, there is a foundation—the lands of the mid-
  west—but in the Deeps there may be no foundation—just a 
  veneer of sanity over a bottomless, schizophrenic reality. 
   
  The Deeps, Geographically 
  The exact boundaries of the Deeps change as the Aether flows. 
  They are definitely west, but how far west? A Geography 
  provides specifics, but the National Reconnaissance Office has 
  been dedicated to aerial mappings of the Aether flow since the 
  early 20th century. Most maps show the Deeps beginning at the 
  deserts of Western North America.  
   
  On a map of the Dream World, the Deeps would start in 
  northern Texas, and sweep up, through Colorado, and Idaho. 
  They would include the entirety of North America, all the way to 
  the Pacific Ocean. 
   
  The Deeps, Technically 
  There is a technical definition of the Deeps--the term refers to an 
  area in which the Aether Flow (measured in cubic liters per 
  second) is greater than 1000. The ambient magical energy is 
  such a place is so strong that reality becomes porous and 
  flexible. Hundreds of thousands of tiny (microscopic) magical 
  events take place every second. Radical change with no 
  apparent precursor becomes possible. Causality breaks down. 
   
  In such a place, forces that manipulate magic (ideas, 
  emotions—especially strong emotions such as fear—and so 
  forth) have a pronounced physical effect. Further, the formation 
  of intelligences—the spontaneous creation of spirits—becomes 
  commonplace. 
  Journeys into Danger 
  Parties that enter the deeps do so at
  their own peril. It is possible to
  encounter massive monsters (many of
  the beasts found there are immune to
  normal weapons as well). Losing one's
  way is commonplace: compasses spin
  … or lead the characters into danger.
  The ground itself seems to move to cut
  off escape sometimes. 
   
  There are people there—hermits who
  may seem strangely untouched or
  alternately perversely mutated by their
  time in the Shallows. 
   
  Towns caught in a boarder shift have
  become ghost towns, villages filled with
  glass statues of their former inhabitants,
  and otherwise mutated overnight. 
   
  Seeking The Ruins 
  A fast run through the Deeps isn't
  necessarily so bad though: stay away
  from heavy weather (things tend to
  change more) and don’t spend the night
  if you can at all help it (there can be
  strange and unpleasant surprises in the
  morning). Teams with native guides
  (who can intuitively feel the Aether flow
  and sense danger) should be able to
  make 
  'hit 
  and 
  run 
  raids' 
  against
  structures that could contain wondrous
  treasure. 
   
  This does happen—but it isn't safe.
  Firstly monsters in the Deeps may not
  hunt out in the Shallows—but they can
  follow you out there. 
   
  Secondly, the location is often far from
  safe: New Tribes have nightmarish
  enclaves just inside the Shallows. An
  abandoned 
  building 
  from 
  the
  Dreamworld 
  might 
  rise 
  above 
  a
  primordial forest beckoning treasure
  hunters—but time could flow slowly
  inside (you could come back years
  later)—or it could suddenly seal up and
  sink into the ground … or it could be
  inhabited by toxic snakes that have all of
  your 
  memories 
  and 
  murderous
  intentions for you. The Deeps can be a
  boring trek across the badlands and
  then suddenly turn into a Dali-esque
  nightmare. 
   
  When a thinking creature enters the Deeps, he affects it and it 
  reacts to him. State of mind can become external reality.  
   
  The Deeps, Psychologically 
  The Deeps occupy an odd space in the psyche of the Western 
  world. As a practical matter, they are a source of considerable 
  danger—even a thousand miles away is too close. But the 
  Deeps are meaningful—in ways that make the attractive to 
  certain sorts of people. 
   
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  Magic, at high concentration levels makes the imaginary real. 
  People who are concerned with introspection and self-discovery 
  (Poets, Romantics, and so on) find them intriguing (in theory—
  actually traveling through monster-infested wilderness isn’t 
  something most Romantics would find appealing). 
  Legends of the Deeps 
  There are as many legends as there are
  travelers willing to tell tall tales. Famous
  outlaws have vanished into the Deeps.
  Explorers have returned from them
  possessing extraordinary powers. There
  have been tales of hideously cursed
  artifacts that the Deeps have taunted
  men with like poisoned lures on some
  cosmic fishhook.  These are some of the
  legends. 
   
  The Ghost Riders 
  Travelers along the border of the
  Shallows to the Deeps have reported
  that when traveling at night they have
  heard the sound of large horses nearby-
  it sounds as though there are many,
  many riders—and sometimes shouts or
  the language of army men can be heard.
  Nothing is seen and in the morning there
  is no evidence of their passing. Some
  believe the riders are General Custer's
  regiment that vanished in a massive,
  historic battle with the New Tribes. They
  were caught in an Aether Storm and
  bodies were recovered. Some believe
  the souls of the men still travel the
  Deeps trying to find their way home. 
   
  The Light Houses 
  Like Will o' The Wisps, travelers in and
  near the Deeps have reported seeing tall
  towers with powerful lights that track
  them as they move. In many cases, lost
  travelers have headed towards the tall
  stone tower that seems to be only a few
  miles off. No one has ever reached it
  and often members that did not follow its
  light further into the Deeps have
  reported that their fellows were never
  seen again. Native guides fear the
  image of the Light Houses as an evil
  omen. 
   
  The Deeps also represent mankind’s destiny. They are 
  frightening; and to those who want a stable, safe existence, 
  abhorrent. Mankind was not made to live in a world with Deeps. 
  So their presence (even at a distance) is a call for change. It’s 
  ‘soft’ enough that it can be ignored for awhile (generations. 
  Centuries, even), but those who have studied the danger that 
  the Deeps pose agree—eventually, they must be done away 
  with. Men must take charge of their world and usher in a place 
  that, while possibly magic, is not rent by mystical forces. 
  The Deeps as a Practical Matter 
  The Deeps are highly magical terrain. Within them, land shifts 
  and flows sometimes (not constantly). Maps more than a year 
  old are often wrong. More than a decade—useless. The only 
  reliable navigation relies upon the stars. 
   
  Magic is a strange force—while it works in fairly primal ways it 
  seems to be aware of mankind. Thus, natural magical 
  occurrences (the shifting of the landscape, for instance) can 
  happen at times and in ways to mischievous (or even malicious) 
  to be pure coincidence. When the Deeps react to a person, they 
  spawn memories—phantasms from within him—based n his 
  experiences, fears, and so forth. These can be troublesome or 
  deceptive. 
   
  The greatest immediate danger that the Deeps pose to the 
  Colonies is the spawning of monsters. While monsters might 
  breed in the Shallows or even on the Frontier, the creatures 
  from the Deeps can be truly nightmarish and horrifically 
  powerful. Beasts that have wandered all the way to civilization 
  are often more than a match for lightly armed humans. 
   
  The greatest long term danger that the Deeps pose is that they 
  will, by their existence, destabilize the Colonial civilization. 
  Strange things may be found in the Deeps—relics from the 
  dream world, for instance—powerful things that might, given the 
  chance, radically change everything.  
   
  What One Might Find There 
  The first answer is nothing—the lands are barren—badlands 
  and desert. This is partly a matter of natural meteorology, but 
  also the nature of highly magical areas—they tend to appear to 
  be empty slates.  The Aether flow is strong enough to be visible 
  at a distance. At night, the sky is lit softly by “curtains” of 
  magical energy (they appear somewhat like Aurora Borealis).  
  There are also magical events in the upper atmosphere that 
  cause physical affects—the Deeps hum with the faint sounds of 
  distant thunder. 
   
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  The land is warped. There are strange rock formation—towers, loops, giant boulders balanced on 
  their ends. There are also natural obelisks, perfect spheres. The terrain seems to coyly hint at a 
  watchmaker. Those who have traveled extensively in the Deeps (There are few—and fewer who 
  will talk) have this to say: what you find there is a twisted combination of what you expect—and 
  what you don't. 
   
  Ruins   
  Almost no one lives in the Deeps—certainly no one built great cities there long enough ago that 
  now they are all but swallowed by sand. And yet the cities are there. And not just cities. There are 
  ghost towns, scattered throughout the Deeps. 
   
  Some suggest that the ruins are actually echoes of the Dream World. The fact that a ruin much like 
  Los Angeles can (reports say) be found about where Los Angeles would be seems to support this. 
  But other Ruins suggest a different origin—many of the structures and people within the Deeps are 
  memories or ideas; structures that exist only within the minds of travelers.  
   
  El Dorado 
  El Dorado— the City of Gold. Reports disagree on exactly where it lies—high in the Rocky 
  Mountains, certainly, but different accounts give different precise locations. Very likely, it moves—
  but how this might be possible is unexplained. 
   
  The City of Gold not only lives up to its name it typically surpasses even the wildest expectations. 
  Even the most conservative stories report that gold is everywhere. Gold leaf decorates the most 
  humble of structures. The grandest have great gold-plated facades. Ordinary metal objects (forks, 
  flagons, latches) are forged from gold alloys. Jewelry (and both the men and women of El Dorado 
  adorn themselves) is magnificent in both its craftsmanship and its composition.  The abundance of 
  riches in El Dorado is only matched by the reverence its inhabitants have for their metal. 
   
  For in El Dorado, Gold is sacred. There are two temples in the city, both of which address the 
  properties of Gold that make it special—the Temple of Beauty, and the Temple of Eternity, for in the 
  precious metal, El Dorado finds the essence of splendor and agelessness. 
   
  Beyond these facts, reports and accounts vary widely. The truth about El Dorado may, itself, be 
  elusive—there is some evidence that El Dorado, like so much of the Deeps, is something of a 
  mirror, reflecting back at the visitor what he holds in his heart. In some tales, El Dorado is a place of 
  beauty and enlightenment. In others, it is a sinister place—its magnificence hides a core of 
  corruption, perversion, and death. 
   
  The People of El Dorado 
  El Dorado is inhabited by lithe, dark-skinned people who speak common tongues fluently 
  but with a strange accent. They are slight in stature but have an odd grace to them and 
  refined manners. Many visitors find them gracious hosts (provided the rules and proper 
  decorum are observed), but some reports portray them as reserved, jealously guarding 
  their dark secrets. 
   
  Most agree that they are not quite human. Perhaps they were at some point, but they 
  practice strange rituals (including, reportedly, the intravenous injection of gold solutions) 
  that has changed them. They do not fall ill, they do not grow old, and although faintly alien, 
  they are pleasing to the eye, just like their precious metal. 
   
   
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  The Temples 
  Most accounts mention the Temples. There are two, both paying homage to aspects of the 
  Sacred Metal—name its beauty and its incorruptible nature. They are closed to all but the 
  most trusted outsiders, but those have been inside (either invited or not) report that the 
  magnificence within transcends anything outside. 
   
  In the Temple of Beauty, the tales say, there are three idols—the Woman, who wears a 
  golden mask polished to a mirror shine. During the day, slots in the ceiling bring in the light 
  and she is so resplendent and bright as to actually be painful to look upon.  Then there is 
  the Miser—a corpulent man, kneeling about stacks of riches (coins, chalices, etc.) And 
  finally, the Hooded One. The Tales do not explain the Third Aspect, except to say that 
  those who have peeked have seen the grinning jawbone of an exposed skull.  
   
  The Temple of Eternity lies by the South Gate to the city. There is a well within it and a 
  magnificent pump system (with gold pipes and a pipe-organ-like control) that draws the 
  water up to make a series of waterfalls and fountains. Here, water—the “Ultimate Solvent” 
  flows over gold—the eternal metal. Thus the unstoppable force meets the immovable 
  object. It is here, that the people of El Dorado partake of their monthly ablutions in the gold-
  water that the tales say keep their youth to them. 
   
  The Historians 
  There is, of course, the obvious reason to seek El Dorado—the riches that one might 
  acquire. There is another, more honorable reason. The men of El Dorado are historians. 
  Although they never leave their city (or, perhaps they do rarely), they are deeply interested 
  in the outside world and will purchase objects of great cultural significance. They have, 
  through trade and the careful transcriptions of stories, created a living museum of art, 
  history and culture. 
   
  In some cases, scholars have sought El Dorado for its intellectual riches, and been gratified 
  in a way that all of its Gold could not match. 
   
  Security, Magic, and the Curse 
  Over they centuries, most men who have sought the City of Gold have not done so, 
  seeking knowledge. They come to trade (at best) or steal, or plunder. And so, over the 
  years there have been many stories about how El Dorado guards its riches. 
   
  First, there are the sentries—there are four gates to the City (South, North, North East, and 
  North West). These are only reachable by narrow, treacherous passes, and they are 
  guarded by towers that seem inaccessible. Anyone on foot must enter or leave the city by 
  these passes, and as they do so, they are vulnerable to attack from the towers. The 
  Sentries attack with simple but effective weapons—poisoned blow-darts, metal-tipped 
  arrows, pikes, and javelin. 
   
  Within the city itself, the natives keep are careful eye on foreigners. They are well aware of 
  the value of Gold in the outer world, and they have a long history of thieves. What they do 
  with those caught stealing is a matter of legend. There are tales of hideous tortures and 
  macabre, extravagant executions, but these may be nothing but tales: the few who have 
  successfully stolen from the City of Gold and escaped did not face these fates and for 
  those who failed their mission… there are no tales to tell. 
   
  El Dorado uses magic as well. Its ancient Counsel of Elders has many accomplished 
  magicians and they keep horrific creatures on call to meet invaders or visitors too powerful 
  for the Sentries to face. 
   
  And finally, there is the Curse. It is said the even if one steals and escapes, there is one 
  last hurdle to face. The Gold is cursed, and before the third sunrise, the curse will bring the 
   
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  thief’s life into peril. The nature of this peril is usually not specified (although it might involve 
  being stalked by flying, invisible demons), but it is certainly fearsome and often 
  overwhelming.  Those who escape, however and beat the curse can often retire. Even a 
  small “score” from the City of Gold is the proverbial King’s Ransom. 
  Xanadu 
  In the South, perhaps where Richardson Texas lies in the Dream, there are tales of domes that 
  glitter like diamonds in the dusty planes. As one draws closer, they appear stranger still—perfect 
  things whose sleek curves make them seem more biological than artificial. The valve-like portals 
  that grant entrance and egress do little to dispel this assessment.  
   
  The Domes of Xanadu strike those with a medical or scientific background as a culture of the 
  strangest cells. There are between eighteen and twenty-three domes, and they are surrounded by 
  lush farmland (in an otherwise arid, almost desert landscape). The land is worked by farmers who 
  have lived there for generations and have never questioned or entered the domes. They are 
  content to accept their bounty (every few hours mineral rich water gushes from the great pipes at 
  the Dome’s base, fertilizing and irrigating the land). 
   
  It is visitors who ask questions and enter—some of them never leave. Within the domes is 
  paradise. There are hanging gardens, pools of fresh, crystal-clear water. There are flocks of 
  songbirds and orchestras of self-playing musical instruments. 
   
  Men who have been to Xanadu talk of strange beasts that exist to be eaten (walking headless 
  creatures that taste exactly of roast pork, and virtually fall into slices and the slightest provocation). 
  There are stories of other temptations—narcotic and hallucinogenic delicacies, for example, and 
  even a dome that contains a harem of beautiful and magnificent “ladies.” 
   
  There are far more questions than answers about Xanadu. Those who have come seeking 
  explanations have been referred to the Committee—a group that stays within the Center (the inner-
  most chambers of the Domes that are off-limits to visitors). The Domes are run by Assistants who 
  explain and enforce the rules (there are almost none), and will convey any request for a meeting to 
  the Committee Members. These requests have invariably been met with an apologetic denial—"The 
  Committee is previous occupied and cannot grant you an audience today. Perhaps tomorrow, Sir?" 
   
  The Domes are not dangerous in an overt sense. Those who enter are not kept—although they can 
  be very confusing and finding one’s way out is often difficult. There are also numerous available 
  pleasures that are habit forming. Tales of visiting Xanadu and becoming addicted to the strange 
  nectars are not rare. 
   
  If there is a sinister threat, it seems to come from the temptation of the place. Within the Domes of 
  Xanadu, all the pleasures of the senses are satisfied.  
   
  The Black Mountain 
  There is a single, strange mountain in the middle of the desert. From a distance it appears to be a 
  column of black rock that rises from an otherwise empty plain. As one grows closer it becomes 
  clear that the mountain is not rock at all, but a waterfall of Void. 
   
  Void—the essence of nothing pours out of thin air some 600 feet above the ground and disappears 
  into a fissure in the earth. It is a magnificent and terrifying site—a huge, turbulent pillar of motion 
  and destruction that is utterly silent. In fact, nearby it, no noise is possible. The Black Mountain 
  mutes the plain.  
   
   
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  The Labyrinth 
  Within the land that would be Arizona (specifically the Grand Canyon) in the Dreamworld the 
  ground opens and extends (as far as the eye can see) in a valley that is a titanic maze. It is a 
  wonder to behold: it seems at first to be a natural formation—as though carved by water (and a 
  stream does flow through it)—but upon further inspection there are arches and stairs, forks and 
  spirals and definite paths. Dragons journey to the Labyrinth to mate … and to die (there are reports 
  of massive Dragon graveyards within the maze).  
   
  Despite the evidence of intelligent design, the Labyrinth has a tremendous natural beauty. It is 
  dangerous to traverse (there are narrow bridges, winding paths along steep cliffs, and even 
  monsters). Those who have entered and returned, however, have done so and been changed. As 
  though the act of navigating the Labyrinth is somehow a physical analogue of a spiritual journey, 
  those survivors have reported that the days spent in the winding recesses of the Labyrinth 
  awakened them. Some tell of 'meetings with themselves—possible versions of themselves—and 
  journeying with alternate personas' others tell of questions being answered in mental whispers or 
  even speaking rocks.  Some, those especially troubled, have reported seeing The Minotaur, the 
  name for a giant—a 12-story tall dark monstrosity that is said to inhabit the Labyrinth and devour 
  prey that it can catch. 
   
  The Mesa of Thunderbirds 
  In the deep desert there is said to be a mesa where the Thunderbirds dwell. Larger than dragons, 
  the birds appear as mammoth eagles (each weighing more than a Blue Whale and with a wingspan 
  larger than a football field).  Seeing one overhead invokes a primal fear in humans (and just about 
  anything else). Seeing a flock of the usually rare, always solitary Thunderbirds perched on a 
  massive mesa in the desert is a religious experience. It has been said by the Elders of the Nations 
  that pilgrimage to the Mesa is the ultimate right of passage for a young warrior or a would-be wise 
  man. 
  The Airplane Boneyard 
  Out in the north is a structure with a high tower and long flat roads surrounding it. Strange 
  machines are parked here (some decaying others in quite new condition). Pictures from those who 
  have returned show, clearly that the vehicles are Dreamworld aircraft from many, many different 
  eras. Some are huge some are small. Many are warplanes. Entire flights are here consisting of 
  multiple planes of the same type. There is no indication as to what happened to the crews although 
  the boneyard is haunted: after dark, parties that have stayed have vanished. There have been 
  unverified and unreliable reports of giant invisible monsters stalking the grounds. 
   
   
   
   
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/13 Colonies/13 Colonies - CH2.1 - The Colonies, Frontier, Shallows, and Deeps.pdf