HIVEWORLD - History (parts 1 & 2) Date: Sat, 11 May 1996 02:08:24 -0500 From: jmb14@psu.edu (John Baker) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:1497] the History of the Hive, part 1 (long) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Please bear with me, as I do not remember all of the Official Torg History. Also, many thanks to Jamison Graff for sparking my imagination and changing the history into this modern form. I had already connected the Ustanah and the Insects, but these were the finishing touches. Loved your ideas, by the way. Long, long, ago in a cosm far, far, away... There lived a colony of Insects, much like ants in a world of perpetual tunnels. The biology of this world allowed these human-sized insects to develop, and although they could become physically powerful, and eventually became capable of rational individual thought, they still could not break their ties to the mother of the hive. They would have been successful on their own, but their unwillingness to act without the advice of Mother led them to be subjugated by another, more belligerent, predatory, spiritual race, the Ustanah. The Ustanah used the Insects for food and slave labor, and with their help, the Ustanah were able to conquer many worlds. The Insect population was kept stable to make sure that the Ustanah had plenty of warriors and meals, but kept low enough that the Insects could never successfully rebel. To accomplish this, the Ustanah sequestered the Drones away from Mother. The Insects were in perpetual need and anguish. Alone, in a cosm of its own devising, a Darkness Device rested. This Device was alone, because it was abandoned by the other Devices. They could not trust it. It had been poisoned by Apeiros, they said. It suffered from internal insanities, they said. It would try to suck them dry, they said. In any case, it was known that this device was wrong, abhorrent to the others in ways so basic: it had the power of creation. It could summon things out of nothingness, simple things, but as a passing god explained as it watched a group of them in creation, "If a thing be one thing, it cannot also be another." And so it waited. It watched this newly created cosm with interest, never acting, but waiting in revenge. Revenge upon the other Devices, waiting for the first major mistake... Would it be that pompous Malgest, always biting off more than it could hold? That would take some time. Would it be the runt Dairoga, soon to be defeated? That would need no help from it. But, then there was Rikpa'ken... the "Black Feeler," about to take its chosen people through one cosm into another that it was not prepared for. Yes, it would watch Rikpa'ken. Back in Clickitick (I think I have that right...) the Ustanah rejoiced. Another people had fallen to their knees, and this people was much stronger than the Insects. These lizard-creatures, who called themselves the Edeinos, were not only physically stronger, but formidable in their faith, willing to endanger themselves, and quite tasty. Despite their primitive nature, there was no denying their power. They had found a new slave race. There would be no need for the Insects any longer. Let them fight, they said. Let them reign in the old tunnels. Their race shall die soon as we suck the tunnels dry of possibility. But then, disaster struck. The Ustanah High Lord found a new cosm, riding on the back of a giant turtle. The cosm was filled with energy, and had a simple, obvious weakness-- the turtle! The Ustanah invaded, but the cosm backlashed, shattering the maelstrom bridge, and destroying many Ustanah. The Black Feeler had no choice but to abandon the Ustanah, as the Edeinos started destroying all Ustanah found in this Living Land, Takta Ker. The Insects, too, joined this rebellion, and the Ustanah, spread thin across three cosms, fell rapidly. Now, Rikpa'ken may have made mistakes, but was always prepared for contingencies. Clickitick was riddled with stelae, placed for one purpose only-- if Rikpa'ken needed to flee the cosm, greatly weakened, it could cannibalize this old cosm's possibilities, strengthening it for its next conquest. Also, the Insects, in their fervor, made one important error when they rebelled. The Ustanah still held on to the Drones. The Ustanah killed off the Drones in a purely spiteful act, feeding their death god with the Drones' and their own souls. Thus, the Insects remained in a closed cosm, unable to reproduce, with the walls crumbling around them, in a quickly dying reality-blasted cosm. The Darkness Device watched all this with interest. It knew that these despair-filled Insects would be the race that would lead it to victory over the other Devices. It probed the minds of the Insects, trying to find a good leader, a good High Lord to find. In the end, only one could even be leader: Mother. It reached into the deep, dark inner soul of Mother to find out what had driven her all these years, and the answer came back, surprisingly, Love. She loved her brood, cared about them, and was kind and compassionate. She only wanted the best for them. She did not care if they died, interestingly enough, as death simply meant that the Insect would be no more in pain, but she still thought that happiness for all of her children was preferable to oblivion, and she recognized their desire to fight their enemies. No sane Darkness Device would would choose such a compassionate, understanding being as a High Lord, but it was no sane Darkness Device. The decision was made, and-- A dimthread descended. Coming forth, another Darkness Device landed, next to the first one. Drakacanus. Always on this first Device's proverbial heels, Drakacanus always followed to undo the "damage" that the first Device wrought. "I cannot allow you to leave, now," it said. "There are no new cosms for you. Creation is not your position. You must be destroyed." With that said, a storm brewed in the cosm. But, the Device expected this, and used the energy of the cosm to make a dimthread to land on failing Clickitick. Drakacanus tried to pursue, but discovered that it could not start a dimthread! This cosm was so weak, so lacking in possibility, that it did not exist anywhere any more. There was only enough energy in the connection for one dimthread out, then the cosm ceased to exist anywhere! That mad Device made this cosm as a trap, Drakacanus thought. There could be no escape, and all Drakacanus could do is wait... Mother worried for her children. They had fought so hard, and now, the very walls of the caverns, the one sure thing, that one constant, was failing! Passages ceased to be, there were cave ins, rock no longer acted like rock, everything was failing. And without Drones, the Insects would eventually all perish. This could not be, she thought. But, there was no way out, except if she could find a way to the Black Feeler... The Black Feeler has betrayed you, a thought occured to her. Take your brood, it continued, and leave down, out of the bottom of this place! She had never thought of Clickitick as having a bottom, but somehow, it made sense! Her brood gathered around her, picked up her bloated, fertile body, and carried her down. Down the tunnels, and down even farther, until she commanded them to stop. They could go down no more. And, lying in front of her, was a black cube. Perfectly black, perfectly cubical. A perfect, simple shape. A simple shape that could be trusted. One that would save, not enslave. A symbol of hope. Mother reached down, and picked up the cube in her forelegs, and a simple message was heard by all Insects: Follow me. And then, on the floor beneath them, a circular hole opened. A perfectly white, perfectly straight oblong board of perfect smooth rock led straight down. The Insects pick up their Mother, and carried her out of that dying place, onto a new world, a world that the Device had watched for so long, a world that brought a new hope, a new home, to all Insects. And as the last Insect left, Clickitick died. (End of part one) John Baker Mother is part of us all. Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 01:41:40 -0500 From: jmb14@psu.edu (John Baker) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:1832] The History of the Hive, part 2 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List [When we last left the Insects, they arrived droneless and homeless onto a new world. Mother was carrying the Darkness Device that led the Insects to this new cosm that it had been watching so closely...] A bright blue sky hovered above them. No ceiling, no walls. No protection from the tunnels that always existed. They had seen a similar situation in their minor excursions onto Takta Ker, but at least the walls and ceiling existed, even if they were made from plants and were structurally unstable. Here, nothing. They could not worry about this right now, though. Get off the bridge. Enter the ground. Make new tunnels. Find new friends. The fourth concept can be approached by meeting the white chitinous being below them. Dunad lifted his sword. Weary, he knew that only in his selfless sacrifice of himself and his power could he save the people of his world from the tyranny of the giants. He offered a prayer to the gods before setting off to complete his holy work. And-- what was that! A light in the sky! The sky tore open, an a simple, oblong stretch of perfect white stone extended before him to the ground. What could this be, he wondered. Were his prayers being answered? He thought about this for a moment but then reared back in horror at the stream of ant-people that descended the bridge as a rampaging colony ready to devour anything in its path! No, he thought, he could not let this scourge loose upon the world, but why before him? Why now? He watched the Insects with his Magesight... no, these are natural beings. Come as they may from a supernatural place, these beings only wish to survive, to become a part of all things, to come and end slavery. They were Earthly friends, and could be trusted. [Aside: even though the Insects would normally be better affected by Folk, this decision by Dunad makes the Insects fall under the Earthly knowledge. Ahh... I sense that you already do not like that...:)] Mother was carried before the being named Dunad, and the two discussed the world's problems. Here is no better than her old home, she said. Giants or Ustanah, same difference. No allowance of position. Slavery could not be tolerated. All Insects are equal, and Mother connects to all of them. As the last Insect descended the bridge, there was obviously something wrong. The floor, the topless ceiling, the being Dunad that removes his chitin on his appendages to meet others, and ESPECIALLY this annoying constant sideways push with a rumbling was wrong. What is this new place, Mother wondered. The Device simply stated that it was new, not of your world, and that the Insects will adjust. The rumbling increased. The sky turned black. The sideways push increased, and the Insects grew scared. Stop it, Mother commanded. Accept it, the Device replied. A jagged light and sound shattered the bridge, and small white shards flew everywhere. The floor ruptured, and new tunnels formed instantly. Dunad steadied his position and drew his sword, Aurel, which wished to strike Insect flesh. Bolts passed into the cube that was the Device, into Mother, and from there, into her children. The fight between Aurel and the Device had begun. The Valley spent the next day in agony; Dunad, convinced that the gods had left him to die by these Insects, and Mother, battling for her children and the good of the Hive. The cost was great; much energy was spent, but the Device still held much more energy than what would be expected, and Aurel lay defeated, shattered, at the legs of Mother. The stars swirled as Aurel's magic was released. Dunad knew not what to think, being now faithless, feeling betrayed and confused. Mother understood this world now; she and her children were part of THIS world now, and it would be hers to protect, soon. She also knew clearly one other thing. She was hungry. In the wake of the storm, the Valley became riddled with tunnels, and the Insects that survived the ordeals thus far started the preparation and exploration of the tunnels. A chamber was excavated for Mother, complete with egg chamber. This made Mother sad. There would be no more Drones, and thus, no more children. All this fighting would lead to nothing, as the Insects were doomed. She turned to the Device, and asked why do all this for us, when we are all doomed anyway without Drones? The Device smiled. Remember now that this Device was considered insane and filthy by the other Devices for one simple reason--it could create. The Device said that it would be her Drone, if only she would serve it. Mother accepted and the Device, now called Drone, altered its form to physically attach itself to Mother's back. It now had the appearance of a suit of chitin, an exoskeleton on an exoskeleton, with a small black cube protruding from her back. Mother decided never to move again, happy that she had a place to live, now. Soon, stories came back of many other beings above in the Infinite Chamber and below in the Finite Chamber. The lower beings were more industrious and shorter than the Infinite Chamber people. Their lifestyles were still, no matter how structured, abominable to Mother. She could not imagine walking around thinking that one of her own kind might attack her to steal her right to easy survival. This barbarous behavior was unacceptable. So, Drone suggested a solution: take them into the Hive with her. Accept them as equals with the Insects, and then destroy any who desire to live outside this system. A life that threatens ten is worse than the loss of said life, by simple mathematics. She agreed to this plan and was going to start the assimilation of the beings of the Finite Chamber when Drone first recommended a test attack. Armed with new black cubes, Insects poured into a new, small cosm, Khuul, and crushed it utterly. The energy was drained, and the people, a large, strong subterranean race, were assimilated. This first raid stabilized the Law of the Net Mind, and guaranteed easy mental access of all the minds in the colony, some minds outside the colony, to Drone and Mother. Although the dwarves knew of the Insects, they never would have expected their numbers to have grown so quickly, nor would they expect them to invade, or that their leaders would be convinced to join the Insects. The dwarven kingdoms fell, to be replaced by the Dwarven Arm of the Hive. One could still fight for one's individuality, but it became easier and safer to swear allegiance to the Insects, who would then treat them as equals instead of food. The dwarves then helped the Insects expand the caverns, filling the Land Between [the Finite Chamber to the Insects] with tunnels. During this time, the Insects learned the art of Disguise. They found that people trusted you more if you looked and acted like them. So, with a little help from magic from the few Dwarves that knew it, the Insects learned how to twist and hide themselves as others. Drone altered reality so that this was the domain of the Insects alone. (Mother didn't like this at first, arguing that all should be allowed to Disguise, but she served Drone, so...) After the success, Mother and Drone attacked other cosms and together, the Dwarves, Hulks, and Insects assimilated more and more people, until it became time to deal with the beings in the two Infinite Chambers, the humans in one, and the giants in the other. Because the giants would be more practical, but not as useful in the tunnels, they were assimilated first. Tunnels were widened for the Giants, and with this arsenal of creatures, busily covering Lower Aysle in tunnels, the invasion of Upper Aysle began. This was a disaster for the Hive. The humans had spent a long time enslaved to the giants, and they did not want to be enslaved by the Hive, as it seemed to them what would happen. They were aware that their spiritual power was failing them, and that their thoughts, their creativity seemed stifled. They fought back strongly with their magic. Much of the Hive was destroyed, and several races of the Hive perished in what became a war of attrition. Mother was very sad, but Drone pushed her on. Eventually, a powerful Pella Ardinay was slain by Tolwyn of House Tancred who immediately declared that the humans should stop fighting the Insects and join together, as they would make better friends than enemies. This agreed upon (everyone found that they all wanted to make friends in the first place), Tolwyn returned to the tunnels to meet its brethren. Meanwhile, in a dark, desolate useless cosm, Drakacanus waited. It used what little energy it could take from this fake cosm to at least make the cosm exist somewhere in the cosmverse. Soon after this was done, it was located by Heketon, who gave it Uthorion as a High Lord. As they were searching for a cosm to invade, Drakacanus spotted Aysle! This looked like the cosm that held the Device and its Insects... until they invaded. It soon became apparent that although this world is virtually the same, the Insects did not flee to here, the Elves did. Disappointed but glad to be free of its prison, Drakacanus started Uthorion on a wave of destruction.[In my game, this is why the Gaunt Man helped Uthorion. Heketon and Drakacanus convinced him to.] Once all the races declared loyalty to the Hive, work could begin in earnest. Remembering the pain that Magic caused, Mother declared that no one learn Magic (except for the Insects' Disguise). A couple of cosms later, including a highly military society Marthio, and a high tech cosm Kahesh, Mother decided that Technology would replace Magic for defense, as there could be tighter controls on it. Cosms were raided for raw material as well as Possibility Energy, and the items were used to make more tunnels for the Hive. Eventually, the Sun was captured and tapped for nuclear energy. The tunnels stretched to the Limit. Finally, to reinforce the hold on the cosm, the Law of Artificiality was formed. Raw materials was transported to the Sun (now called the Main Reactor) or the Stars (Minor Reactors) where they could be transformed to whatever and shuttled to wherever they could. Recently, they just met and assimilated a cosm called Die Welt. It contained PE from two cosms, and finding the Darkness Device Onyxistika on the surface, Drone was able to trace the path as a failed invasion onto Earth. Agents of the Hive have been preparing to land either in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, or Sydney. Only time will tell... DCA-16801-SCE Designate "John Miguel Baker" Mother is part of us all. Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 23:01:00 -0500 From: jmb14@psu.edu (John Baker) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:1223] Re: Axiom Shifts X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List A segue from Jamison to K.J.: >> Remember too that CE is drawing its defenses against the invaders, >> sharpening the distinction between our reality and theirs. Raising >> to Tech 24 on CE means growing closer to NT, while our reality >> itself in trying to move away from them; I don't see the unliving >> giving in so easily in these circumstances to the imaginations of >> the living. > >I don't see the cosm defending itself by resisting any change that >would bring it closer to the axioms of an invader - so long as the >World Laws are different we could have identical axioms and that would >still be enough of a difference. > Ah, yes! I was thinking about that myself! Earlier, someone mentioned that the Gaunt Man sent a few "sacrificial cosms" to invade, just to see how Core Earth would respond. What were they like? I was thinking of die Welt, a German-dominated world where Nazism got a strong hold and won WWII. Basically, the axioms and the world history was much the same (German became the official language of the USA when it was founded, so it sided with Germany during the World Wars, but that's really the main changes) but the world laws were different. The most important for die Welt was the Law of Initiative, saying that the first person to act in a situation gets bonuses, so the High Lord demanded that die Welt invade first. Oops. John Baker Position: Mother's Chamber Persons: Mother, Drone, KDO-93884-WOS Designate "Ilxor" "KDO-93884-WOS Designate 'Ilxor' reporting." "Deliver." "Belligerent non-society located named 'Die Welt.'" -- Onyxistika is there -- "Another Darkness Device?" -- Associated with others reject me with more capability -- "Your antennae writhe." "The non-society is militant, but confused. It appears that it 'wished to eat the foodport,' if you'll mind the expression. The non-citizens are weakened in reality. The non-society has many possibilities, but the energies conflict among themselves. An easy invasion, and the sentients, race designate 'Human,' will make excellent Police or Producers when reprogrammed." "Hmm, care for a little revenge against your expatriates?" -- Of course -- "Ah, good. They will be much happier with society soon."