TEXT: ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Technogrammaton 
  An entry to the 1KM1KT Cyberpunk competition 2010  
  by Andrew Peregrine 
   
   
  First, an apology 
  This isn’t finished, not by a long chalk. So what you see here is 
  the vaguest form of ashcan game. June has turned out to be a very 
  busy writing month for me and I just failed to put in the hours on 
  this project. However, I felt I should hand in something and so 
  here it is. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish what I started at a later 
  date, although I have had another cyberpunk style idea in the 
  meantime… 
   
  A note on the ‘Cyberpunkness’ 
  In this game I’ve steered away from replacement limbs and 
  corporate wars. While these might seem essential for cyberpunk, I 
  don’t believe they are. Snowcrash is more my model than 
  Neuromancer. The world in this setting is our near future, a place 
  a little more advanced than ours as it never really had a dark age. 
  Religion has taken the place of corporations and the adherents of 
  the faiths are engaged in a struggle that is getting worse by the 
  day. For me, cyberpunk is about both tech, and a film noir ennui 
  that stops the advances we have made from creating the perfect 
  world they promise. The future is sleek and responsive, but dark 
  and dangerous. In short, it rains in my world too.  
   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  A world under Allah – a brief alternate history lesson 
   
  The world of Technogrammaton in the year 2010 is a little ahead 
  of ours, but not by much. However its technology is far more 
  advanced due to the world being dominated by the might of a 
  2200 year old Islamic empire. 
   
  It is all due to the failure of a single horse in the year 306 CE. The 
  horse in question was to bear a Roman noble called Constantine 
  away from his lord Galerius. While Constantine was a promising 
  officer, he was a little too promising and Galerius had made a 
  point of keeping him and his father separate. Constantine was a 
  virtual hostage in Galerius’ court. One night word came to 
  Constantine that his life was in danger and he fled for his father’s 
  court. He drove several horses to exhaustion, desperate to escape 
  quickly as leaving was treason, and treason was death. Had he 
  reached his father’s camp Constantine would have one day led the 
  Roman Empire. He would have taken control of the western 
  Empire and led a conquest of the east that would have made him 
  absolute ruler of a new and stronger empire. He would have also 
  converted to the tiny yet troublesome religion of Christianity, and 
  eventually ordered Rome to adopt it as the state religion. He 
  would have formed the Nicean councils that ensured 
  disagreements in the Christian church were managed and settled, 
  so as to maintain unity in the faith. When Rome eventually fell the 
  faith in this religion would have bound the peoples of Europe 
  together and gave them a commonality they could use to repel the 
  incursions from the east. 
   
  However, all this was not to be. On the night of his flight, 
  Constantine rode his third horse just a little too hard. It collapsed 
  on him in full gallop and he was thrown. Landing badly he 
  snapped his neck and died. This is where the story truly begins… 
  The Rise of Islam 
  In the year 610 CE, a new religion rose in the east. It was based on 
  the word of the Hebrew and Christian faiths that had never quite 
  managed to claim a foothold in the majority of their communities. 
  Islam’s message was powerful and magnetic to the fractured tribes 
  of Arabia. It quickly came to dominate the faith of the Middle East 
  and then set out on a crusade to bring the word of God to the rest 
  of the world. One by one, the Islamic armies dominated the 
  fractured tribes and nations that lay before them. Decades of 
  squabbling over the remains of the Roman Empire had left Europe 
  with little or no unity to speak of. The Islamic forces steadily 
  moved across Europe and Africa, and brought their faith with 
  them to an eager populace. As most of Europe was suffering from 
  plague, the Arab invasion was seen as a force of deliverance. 
  Many saw the plague as the wrath of this new God, destroying all 
  evil in the path of his righteous army. Those who survived the 
  plagues converted eagerly to Islam, convinced they had been 
  spared by the new God of Muhammad. 
   
  It is likely that all of Europe might have fallen to the forces of 
  Islam by the tenth century. However, fate took a hand when Arabs 
  attempted to take the rich city of Byzantium (a city never renamed 
  Constantinople that had become rich through trade). Plague, the 
  supposed spiritual ally of the Arabs turned on them, devastating 
  the Islamic army. The soldiers of Byzantium took advantage of the 
  weakened Arabs and managed to drive them off. Few converted to 
  Islam when they had seen the new ‘plague of god’ destroy its own 
  legions. 
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  Baulked by the defence of Byzantium the Arabs attempted to 
  conquer further into Europe from Spain. They defeated the Franks 
  at Tours (who simply could not gather enough allies) and went on 
  to conquer most of France. However, once into the open ground of 
  Europe, the Arabs were again slowed considerably. Unused to the 
  cold weather and standing against a finally united group of 
  European allies they found the Arabs lost their taste for European 
  Conquest. It was not until the coming of Charlemagne that the 
  Arabs were finally pushed back. Charlemagne converted to the 
  small religion of Christianity and managed to form alliances with 
  other like-minded kings. Under his leadership the Arab forces 
  were pushed out of France and Spain and Europe reasserted itself 
  once more. 
   
  However, by this time most Europeans were Muslims, even if they 
  longed to throw off the shackles of Arabian invaders. The Spanish 
  in particular had adopted Islam with enthusiasm and became rich 
  as a gateway between the Muslim African lands and the new 
  Europe. However it was Byzantium that truly profited from the 
  trade between east and west. With both Europe and Arabia having 
  Islamic populations the crusades simply never happened. Europe 
  never really entered a true dark age as knights and lords remained 
  at home to see to their domains. However, this did not mean the 
  spectre of war left entirely. Warrior monarchs like King Richard 
  ‘the Lionheart’ fought many battles to expand their domains rather 
  than travel to the ‘holy land’. Under Richard, England expanded 
  considerably, although subsequent kings lost much of the territory 
  he gained as is always the case. Despite the wars and border 
  disputes that marred this age, the middle ages managed to 
  maintain its technology and learning. Many scholars maintained 
  their links to the advanced Arabian kingdoms with no crusade to 
  block communication. Byzantium played its part in this as well. 
  With many pilgrims (often on the Hajj to Mecca) and scholars 
  travelling to the East the city grew rich from trade. The scholars 
  travelling through the area also often stopped to take an interest in 
  the classical learning of the Greeks which Byzantium managed to 
  preserve and profit from. All these factors ensured that the 
  advances of the past were not forgotten and by the 14th century 
  there was simply no need for a renaissance. What was recovered 
  and rediscovered in our world had simply never been lost. 
   
  It was not until the 16th century that any particular troubles broke 
  out. One day a German Muslim Iman named Martin Luther made 
  several decrees to his congregation about how they should 
  worship God. While many different forms of Islam had developed 
  over time, this was the first time anyone had written down the 
  specifics of their faith outside the agreed tenets of the Qur’an. Full 
  Shari’a law had never ‘caught on’ in Europe, as it was seen as 
  Arabian law rather than God’s law. So, almost every country 
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  followed a slightly different version of ‘how to live as a Muslim’. 
  There was no central authority for Islam in the same way 
  Christianity in our world had a Pope and so no way to decide who 
  was right. While all agreed the five pillars of Islam were central to 
  belief, there was a lot of disagreement as to any other 
  interpretation of the laws of God. These differences had seethed 
  under the surface for quite some time, and Luther’s declaration 
  brought all these petty differences to the surface. Arguments 
  began as to how correct Luther was, and many more sects began 
  to make declarations of their own. Eventually war broke out as 
  discussion became violent and a war that was to last 30 years and 
  involve most of the known world took hold. 
   
  After many years, the warring nations gradually began to tire of 
  war. They all realised there was no definitive way to decide who 
  was right and the war was costing them dearly. People began to 
  seek commonality rather than animosity and peace began to settle 
  with Islam now divided into several distinct sects. The leaders of 
  these sects came together to meet in the powerful city of 
  Byzantium, to seek an answer to the chaos. After several days they 
  finally agreed to recognise each other’s claim to some form of 
  truth and that they were all indeed Muslims. They also agreed that 
  someone was going to have to decide what was true and what was 
  not. So a new organisation was formed, one that could monitor the 
  religious behaviour of all Muslims and seek to ensure that the 
  Islamic community was never brought into such conflict again.  
   
  The organisation became known as the ‘Kaabayeen’. The name 
  developed from their original name as the ‘Knights of the Kaaba’ 
  named after the enclosure for the sacred black stone in Mecca. 
  This represented that their purpose was not to be the centre of 
  Islam, but to house and protect the essence of Islam. While the 
  order was made up of Islamic knights they did not have a martial 
  directive. Each knight was picked mainly for his scholarly ability. 
  They would travel the land and discuss the tenets of Islam with 
  those they met looking to understand the faith of others. They 
  would then try to bring potential disagreements to a forum they 
  could be discussed in openly and where disagreements could be 
  settled or heresies dealt with. The Kaabayeen operate in secret so 
  that they might discover how people truly feel, which has led to all 
  manner of accusations against the organisation. Some rumours 
  even suggest there is a secret sub-sect within the Knights called 
  the ‘Aswad’ who actually assassinate those they deem heretical 
  rather than allow them to argue their case where they might 
  corrupt others. 
   
  The plan worked, and the creation of what was effectively an 
  Islamic Inquisition ensured that the various Islamic peoples 
  managed to get along without falling apart. However, while this 
  held the religion together, the world was still made up of several 
  different countries. They have warred and fought for all the same 
  reasons as they have in our world. So there was still a first world 
  war when a series of alliances brought the several nations into 
  conflict. Germany still initiated a second world war and chose to 
  brutally oppress the Jewish people, leading to the creation of the 
  state of Israel. Much of the world is as you know it, except that 
  Islam, not Christianity is the dominant religion of the world. 
   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
   
  The State of the World 
   
  While it has adopted Islam as its primary religion, Europe is a 
  mostly secular place. England maintains a strong Islamic 
  population and during its Victorian Imperial years brought Islam 
  to many more developing nations. The English style of Islam has 
  therefore formed the basis for Islamic worship in Africa, India and 
  much of America. However, England does also boast a minor 
  renewal of its pagan faiths which have remained strong as they 
  were among the last nations to join the Islamic community. In 
  their conquest of India the English discovered Sikhism and many 
  of them converted. They lent their support to the Sikh community 
  and were a powerful force in seeing it grow across India and even 
  Europe.  
   
  Spain in staunchly Islamic and maintains strong ties with the Arab 
  world. The small religion of Christianity found a refuge in 
  Germany and the nation has the highest proportion of Christian 
  faithful outside America.  
   
  The USA has adopted any and every religion wholeheartedly. 
  Christians looking to escape the Islamic control of Europe and the 
  East fled here to set up a new life (known as the ‘Pilgrim fathers’). 
  Islam eventually followed though and has established itself as the 
  dominant religion. However, American Islam is very different to 
  that of Arabia and involves a lot more vibrant sung prayer that 
  more conservative Muslims consider heretical.  
   
  Most of the rest of the world remains as it is in our world. Africa 
  is a nation of many states, and has had missionaries from almost 
  every nation arrive at its door. Much of South America was 
  colonised by the Spanish who brought Islam rather forcibly to the  
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  land. Russia absorbed Islam from the south and mixed it with 
  many oriental beliefs in the time of Genghis Khan. The orient has 
  kept to itself, but as global westernisation takes a hold the 
  religions of Europe are moving in quietly. 
   
  One major difference to the map of the world is the country of 
  Byzantium which is a combination of most of Greece, Bulgaria 
  and Turkey. The country has remained neutral in many of the wars 
  that have surrounded it and has become a wealthy first world 
  power. It has no state religion, and welcomes adherents of any 
  faith, although most of its population is Muslim. 
   
  One of the main advantages of the spread of Islam has been the 
  adoption of Arabic as a worldwide language. As it is part of 
  Islamic faith that the Qur’an should be read in its original script, 
  every nation with an Islamic population teaches its children 
  Arabic from an early age. The convenience of having a language 
  that almost everyone speaks has made it the common language of 
  the world and it is unusual to find somewhere that no one speaks 
  it. As the most recent Empire, England comes a close second, 
  although the English did ensure more people spoke Arabic as they 
  spread Islam further across the globe. 
   
  Technology 
  With no crusade to destroy the achievements of Arabian culture 
  and no true dark ages to ensure Europe took a step backwards, the 
  technology of the world is far in advance of our own. Computers 
  were invented at around the same time, but with more advanced 
  mathematics they became more reliable and more capable 
  significantly quicker. Many believe AI is on the verge of 
  discovery, if it hasn’t appeared already.  
   
  Robotics is also a growth industry. Better algorithms and 
  calculations have allowed the programming of artificial devices 
  far superior to those of today. Every home has some form of 
  robotic device, usually for housework, and most heavy building is 
  done with robotic workers. Robots are a little slower than humans 
  so have not replaced them. However, they can be left unattended 
  to perform a variety of tasks (such as cleaning the home) while 
  their owners are out at work. 
   
  In general, much of the same technology exists today, but in this 
  world it is at least 20 years ahead of where we are now. Few new 
  gadgets have appeared, but mobile phones and computers (for 
  instance) are far more advanced. As such, most people carry a 
  variety of phone that has the processing power of today’s most 
  advanced laptop. They are used for business and personal use and 
  effectively allow people to carry their office around with them. 
  Most offices simply have docking stations people plug their 
  phones into for the convenience of a larger keyboard and screen. 
  Networking and wireless communications are ubiquitous. You can 
  connect to the internet almost anywhere at any time free of charge 
  (well, as part of your phone tariff). Most networks are powerful 
  enough to allow users to log in from anywhere in the world and do 
  their business with the same access they might have in the office. 
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  For the businessman on the move, motion screens are very 
  popular. These glasses project a ‘heads up’ display for the 
  operator and project a laser field in front of them to detect motion. 
  This allows the user to touch and select objects they can see in the 
  glasses with ease. Touch screens and voice recognition has made 
  typing almost a thing of the past. So it is not uncommon to see 
  people sitting on the train on the way to work waving their arms in 
  front of them selecting invisible objects and dictating notes. 
   
  As you’d expect, weapons technology is rather advanced as well. 
  However, a gun is still a gun, even if these are smaller and more 
  reliable with a harder punch. In our world we can already destroy 
  the world several times over, and you can’t be any more dead than 
  dead, so few people would notice the difference. Luckily medical 
  technology has improved. Better computer systems have made 
  imaging and scanning very advanced. Holographic projections of 
  the entire body in minute detail can be summoned up without a 
  need for vast magnetic resonance scanners. However, such 
  technology is still limited to hospitals. People don’t heal any 
  quicker but there are several advanced that help the process a little 
  more than we do today. There are also less accidents as 
  technology (being more advanced) has better and more safety 
  features. So while car accidents still hurt and even kill people the 
  casualties are often not as severe. 
   
  Christianity in a Muslim world 
  This small sect of Jews has taken a very long time to get a 
  foothold anywhere in the world. It suffered horrible oppression 
  under Roman government and just as it was trying to spread its 
  word across Europe, Islam appeared and stole its thunder. 
  However, it hasn’t died out, even though it is very different from 
  how it is in our world.  
   
  For a start, even though it is small, Christianity is still one of the 
  six main religions of the world. It has slightly more adherents than 
  Sikhism does in our world. Denied the support of Rome it never 
  created the Vatican, and only when it found a home in Germany 
  did it gain any form of central authority. Sadly during the Second 
  World War the (actually mostly secular) Nazis implied 
  Christianity has supplied them with a moral imperative to destroy 
  the Jewish people. While this was untrue, the accusation damaged 
  the credibility of Christianity. 
   
   
   
  The Christian faith has remained strong and vital despite several 
  attempts to quash it. However it has not fared well as adherents 
  often see themselves as fighting against a world intent on 
  destroying it. Many Christians see the adoption of Shari’a law as a 
  form of religious persecution and are at the forefront of protests 
  when Islamic doctrine attempts to define legal policy. 
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
   
   
   
  All this has led many young Christian to become disenchanted and 
  even violent. Since Roman times Christianity has been a religion 
  of martyrdom. Many seek to emulate Christ’s sacrifice for their 
  cause. In our world this tendency faded as the fortunes of 
  Christianity rose. However, in the world of Technogrammaton it 
  remains strong and central to Christian belief. Many Christians are 
  committing acts of terrorism to get their point across, believing 
  that their sacrifice makes them a martyr and as such they will be 
  welcomed into heaven by Christ. With Christianity spread across 
  the world many people see these terrorists as their own shadows 
  and paranoia is building that attacks might come at any time from 
  anyone. The dubious comfort of racial profiling is simply not 
  available; so many people have turned on the faith as whole. The 
  brunt of this backlash is mostly suffered by those Christians who 
  stand up and declare both their faith and their dedication to peace, 
  as they make themselves targets for the fear and paranoia directed 
  at their community. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  The Kaabayeen 
   
  The player characters in Technogrammaton are all part of the 
  Kaabayeen, an old order founded to try and keep the faithful on 
  one path. Since the 17th century the order has been quietly trying 
  to sink into the background as its overzealous enthusiasm for the 
  cause created the horror of the inquisition. As a reaction to the 
  confusion and religious separation inspired by Martin Luther the 
  Kaabayeen were ruthless in rooting out what they saw as heresy. 
  Believing that Islam itself might fracture and fall apart, they were 
  driven by panic and caused terrible suffering. Many people believe 
  the order faded away purely out of guilt.  
   
  While the Kaabayeen deeply regret their past actions, the order 
  still believes that it has a worthwhile purpose. Most people see it 
  now as a group of scholars. These older (almost retired) agents 
  study Islamic lore and law and offer their advice and opinion to 
  any who seek their wisdom. While they are not the only such 
  experts, Kaabayeen scholars hold to a more standardised and quite 
  moderate series of beliefs, making them popular. No matter where 
  you are in the world, the advice you might get will probably be the 
  same from any Kaabayeen scholar, and they all have confirmable 
  qualifications to legitimise their opinions. This service has done a 
  lot to help hold the ‘Umma’ or ‘world of Islam’ together as 
  different cultures have found different interpretations of the sacred 
  texts.  
   
  The wisest of theses scholars lives in the holy city of Mecca and 
  holds the title ‘the K’eeton’. Most people believe this renowned 
  scholar is the leader of the Kaabayeen. In truth though he only acts 
  as the final spiritual authority on scholarly advice. The true leaders 
  of the Kaabayeen are quite secretive, and consist of a council of 
  twelve members. This secrecy is mostly simply to protect their 
  operations and those they investigate from false accusation, rather 
  than some secret agenda. The council has had agenda in the past, 
  and often suffers from politicking between its members, but 
  generally function as an organisational leadership rather than some 
  ‘shadow council’. Each council member had responsibility for a 
  geographical area and the agents who operate within it. The 
  councillor who watches over Mecca acts as the chairman of the 
  council. 
   
  However, the Kaabayeen are not just an order of old men, and that 
  is where the player characters come in. Kaabayeen still do the 
  work they were created to do. In this day and age it means 
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  investigating suggestions of heresy and corruption in the Islamic 
  world. They also have the power to arrest, intern and punish those 
  who break religious (Shari’a) law. This does not only apply to 
  everyday Muslims and Kaabayeen are encouraged to police each 
  other for signs of corruption and heresy. 
   
  The interpretation of their remit very much depends on the 
  individual agent. While some are power hungry and are looking to 
  enforce their own religious views this is not always the case. 
  Many agents are looking to discover how other people follow their 
  faith and try to find ways for their wisdom to benefit the rest of the 
  community and vice versa. While the Kaabayeen can be a tool of 
  oppression they are often also a means for peace and 
  understanding. 
   
  So, on a day to day basis the Kaabayeen function as a form of 
  shadow FBI. However, they also investigate acts of occult 
  significance and function as a world-wide counter terrorist 
  organisation. In the last twenty years though they have come 
  across something else. People have been saying that God is 
  speaking to them on the internet, and Hebrew characters have 
  begun to appear in computer systems that exhibit strange qualities.  
   
   
  Rules System and Creating Characters 
   
  While I’ve not been able to fully integrate a system, I’ve chosen 
  FATE as detailed in Starblazer Adventures as my core system for 
  Technogrammaton. This is mainly as the system is so rules light it 
  really needs very little detail beyond character creation. Its 
  adaptability means I need to add little in the way of rules here. So 
  you should find this setting fits other systems easily. 
   
  Having said that, there are a few points we should cover for 
  creating player characters. 
   
  As I’ve mentioned the players are all members of the Kaabayeen, 
  and as such are likely to have a few specific skills. These will 
  depend very much on the type of agent you are looking to play. As 
  Fate assumes you can attempt pretty much any skill your 
  character’s basic training gives them a basis in most things. Some 
  agents might be trained primarily in surveillance, combat, 
  investigation or even the occult, and sent out as required. 
  Generally though, some skill in combat and investigation will be 
  the most useful for any agent. All Kaabayeen agents must pick 
  some level of skill in either Academic or Mysteries to represent 
  their knowledge of Islam and religion in general. Religious lore 
  and knowledge comes from the Academics skill, but the 
  Technogrammaton comes under the heading of Mysteries. 
   
  Apart from that, any skill should work fine in this setting unless it 
  has the word ‘Starship’ in the title! Had I got as far as finishing I’d 
  provide more stunts and go over the ones available. However, 
  common sense should make it quite clear what stunts you should 
  be able to select. As computer systems are very advanced, those 
  listed for Starblazer Adventures are all fine, but computers should 
  be a separate skill from Science, with computer stunts applying 
  only to the computer skill. 
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  Your character will also collect a few aspects. At least one of these 
  aspects should relate to their work as a Kaabayeen. They might be 
  ‘Dedicated’ to the cause or at least the cause as they see it to be. 
  However, in the face of what is going on they might equally be 
  ‘Jaded’ or even suffering a ‘Crisis of Faith’. The Kaabayeen are 
  not all ‘men in black’ they are real people driven by duty and 
  faith. However the Gamemaster may well play up the counter-
  terrorist aspect, where agents might be selected not so much for 
  their faith but their skills. 
   
  Agents have access to the same sort of technology and back up as 
  any other law enforcement agency. There is a certain amount of 
  international jurisdiction, but this is balanced by a lack of power in 
  areas of local and federal law enforcement. All agents are issued 
  with a sidearm and state of the art computer systems so they can 
  report to and receive updates from their superiors. The sunglasses 
  are optional. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
  The Technogrammaton 
   
  No one is quite sure when Hebrew letters started to have power 
  inside computer systems. Plenty of Kabbalah scholars insist they 
  have always had this power, and just been waiting for technology 
  to catch up. But many more suggest that as humanity nears some 
  form of technological singularity God himself is trying to warn or 
  help us move forward. 
   
  It was the Nazi’s in World War 2 that first made the discovery that 
  Hebrew characters could affect computer systems. Their reaction 
  was paranoia and fear. Unable to master the nascent ‘sorcery’ and 
  believing the Jewish people held the keys and refused to share 
  them they set about systematically destroying the Jewish people to 
  remove the threat. Thankfully they failed, although they caused 
  terrible suffering and damage. However, the power of the 
  Technogrammaton remained, and as computer systems advanced 
  and interfaces improved, so has their power grown.  
   
  No one knows the limits of their power, and even the application 
  of one or two letters can have incredible effects on a computer 
  system. Many suggest this is due to the way all Hebrew letters 
  have a numerical value. This value allows a computer to 
  understand them. However, their effects are almost supernatural, 
  suggesting that some other force is at work.  
   
  Using the Technogrammaton 
   
  There is far more to using the letter that simply learning what they 
  mean. While we have supplied a quick one or two word meaning, 
  they are much deeper than that. Like runes, each letter has a 
  meaning that has to be felt and experienced as well as understood. 
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  You can only know and understand them in their abstract sense 
  that defies simple description. In this way each letter is a separate 
  skill, and is learnt and gained in the same way as any other skill. 
  However, when swapping skills of the skills tier you can only 
  swap a Hebrew letter skill with a skill one level above or below it. 
  They are neither learnt, nor forgotten easily. 
   
  Learning to use a skill requires you to understand its numerical 
  value so you can input it into a computer system. Those with 
  computer skills can create small programs that shortcut the ‘true 
  name’ of the letter and speed up the process. However, you must 
  still possess an understanding of the letter itself and its true 
  meaning to know how to apply it. Like any number, use of the 
  letters must be exact, and only with a deep understanding of it can 
  they be applied at the right moment in the right way. Most of this 
  ability is intuitive once you have come to know the letter in 
  question, so their use is a question of feel and timing rather than 
  computer knowledge. 
   
  So what can you do with the letters? Generally there are a few 
  ways they can be applied, and they all depend on the amount of 
  contact that you and your target have with a computer system. 
   
  At their lowest level they can be applied in programs to overrule 
  the software you come across, as long as it too is not powered with 
  one of the letters. If you are having trouble breaking through a 
  security firewall, applying Yod or Daleth might break you in. If 
  you are looking for specific data, Lamed might help you find it. If 
  you are trying to create security then Taw will help protect your 
  data. 
   
  At their highest level the letters can affect real people, as long as 
  they have some form of connection to the computer system you 
  are using. You need not have your brain jacked in (that technology 
  hasn’t quite made it yet) just be using some form of input device. 
  The more involved and connected you are the more the letters can 
  affect you. The codes are communicated through your senses 
  directly into the primitive parts of your brain. So by a form of 
  hypnosis, people can be controlled and given tasks to accomplish, 
  often without their knowledge if you are really good. 
   
  If the Gamemaster wants more ‘powers’ in the game the letters of 
  the Technogrammaton might instead of skills be considered stunts 
  under the Mysteries skill.   
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  A summary of the Hebrew letters and their meaning follows below: 
   
  Letter Name Meaning  
  Value
   
  Aleph 
  To learn or Teach, guidance 
  1 
   
  Beth 
  House, household and home 
  2 
   
  Gimel 
  To deal or bargain, or the results of 
  a bargain 
  3 
   
  Daleth 
  To enter or leave 
  4 
   
  He 
  Behold! Often used as emphasis 
  rather than a word itself 
  5 
   
  Waw 
  A hook, to hold, to keep 
  6 
   
  Zayin 
  Debate, but also conflict 
  7 
   
  Heth 
  To fence in, also to destroy 
  8 
   
  Teth 
  To knot tie or twist together 
  9 
   
  Yod 
  The hand as a fist, strength, power 
  10 
   
  Kaph 
  The hand outstretched, supplication, 
  weakness 
  20 / 
  500 
   
  Lamed 
  Learning, scholarship 
  30 
   
   
   
  Letter
  Name Meaning  
  Value
  Mem 
  Water 
  40 / 
  600 
   
  Nun 
  Propagate or increase, also 
  offspring 
  50 / 
  700 
   
  Samekh 
  To support or uphold 
  60 
   
  Ayin 
  The eye, so also senses and 
  expression 
  70 
  Pe 
  The mouth, so also speech 
  80 / 
  800 
  Tsadhe 
  Hunting 
  90 / 
  900 
   
  Qoph 
  A circle, a circuit, coming around 
  again 
  100 
   
  Resh 
  The head, summit also used to 
  mean poison or venom as well as 
  poverty 
  200 
   
  Sin 
  Shin 
  Tooth, also sharpen (either a blade 
  or a tongue). Can also imply 
  revenge and retaliation 
  300 
   
  Taw 
  Limit, boundary 
  400 
   
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
  The Gathering Storm 
   
  The power of the Hebrew letters is not a new gift, but may be a 
  sign of something more terrible on its way. More and more people 
  who use the letters are being diagnosed with mental problems, as 
  if their minds are being stretched beyond their tolerance. Those 
  who have lost their minds to the Technogrammaton often say they 
  have heard the voice of God. He has a mission for them, but one 
  they do not understand. Despite being the ramblings of madmen, 
  this ‘voice of God’ is remarkably consistent, between people who 
  have no connection or cultural common ground. Investigating 
  these occurrences are becoming a growing focus of the 
  Kaabayeen. 
   
  At the same time, Christian terrorists seem to be advancing their 
  agenda. Attacks are becoming more common and captured 
  terrorists often claim the time is coming when they will ‘remove 
  the sin of the false prophet Muhammad, who corrupted the purity 
  of Christ’s words’. These fanatics often also suffer from the 
  insanity of the Technogrammaton, but in different ways. They 
  often manifest the symptoms of the ‘voice of God’ but often have 
  quite different agendas. 
   
  Among the Kaabayeen a strange and new heresy is taking shape. 
  The K’eeton himself has considered that the God of the Hebrews, 
  Christians and Muslims may not actually be the same God. 
  Ancient texts suggest that older Gods may have decided to claim 
  to be the one true God. Could it be that God, Jehovah and Allah 
  are indeed separate beings? If they are it seems they are seeking 
  one final conflict that will decide who is the ‘one true God’. A 
  storm is coming, one that is biblical and ancient, and only the 
  Kaabayeen stand between humanity and the wrath of their Gods. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Written by Andrew Peregrine 
   
  Art and graphics legally stolen from wikicommons 
   
  Hebrew letter details from:  
  http://www.abarim-
  publications.com/Hebrew_Alphabet_Meaning.html 
   
  
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
  ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و ﻩناك ما من إلﻩة غير ّنأ اللﻩ و 
   
   
  Skills 
  Legendary (+8) 
  Epic (+7) 
  Fantastic (+6) 
  Superb (+5) 
  Great (+4) 
  Good (+3) 
  Fair (+2) 
  Average (+1) 
   
  Physical Stress  
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
  Composure Stress 
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
   
  Consequences 
  Minor (-2) 
  Major (-4) 
  Severe (-6) 
  Extreme (-8) 
   
  Character Name 
   
  Age/Gender 
   
  Aspects 
  Career Aspect 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Stunts 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Fate Points 
   
  / 
  Refresh Rate 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/FATE (fudge) [multi]/Technogrammaton.pdf