Game: Four Point Five: The Battle of JaramounteType: LARPAuthors: Jenna BrotskyDate: 3/09Teaser: "Happy Birthday Gertrude!" read the pink and purple banner hung over the doorway. It was complimented well by the balloons of the same colors in the yard. Even the flowers lining the walk up to the door were in tune with the decorations. The house itself was a creamy brown color, with an off-white trim. It was pretty. It was perfect. It was all on fire.
If the inhabitants of the house had tried to get out of the blaze, they would have been stopped, either by the piles of cinderblocks holding all the doors closed, the three sets of locks added to the windows, or the gigantic circle drawn on the surrounding land, which was making a shimmering, solid barrier of magic. Nothing alive could get in or out of the barricade.
But no one was trying to get out. They were all frozen in time, just as they'd been when the fire was set. A little girl was perpetually blowing out her birthday candles while her guests were forever watching.
The arsonist ambled away from the house, admiring his handiwork. There were maybe twenty people there, watching Gertrude Gutenberg turn twelve. She would never get to thirteen. But the arsonist couldn't have cared less about Gertrude's birthday. He cared about one of the guests: Freiderich Gutenberg. Patriarch, pacifist, obstacle. Well, no more.
At last, the arsonist reached the stylish, dark grey Jaguar, parked just outside the boundaries of the magical wall. A tall man, he reached way, way down to open the passenger door and slipped inside.
"They're frozen?" the driver questioned, his voice and body both quaking. His expensive silk shirt was soaked with perspiration. "I mean, there's no screaming, so…"
The arsonist sighed heavily. "Yes, Baron. They're frozen. That was the point of carrying this out myself, rather than using one of our allies."
"But… it was a birthday. She's a little girl!" the man called Baron cried, horrified past masking any emotion.
"I don't care," the arsonist replied in a steely tone. "Freiderich is dead, isn't he? No one else matters."
"B-but Tercion—"
"Baron!" Tercion snapped, "I am sick and tired of your childish antics. Now drive. I've got my dinner at the Rights Leader's house, and I'm not missing a meal in my honor because you can't keep enemies differentiated from, oh, I don't know, people we care in the slightest about."
The driver bowed his head, and turned the key in the ignition. There was no fighting with Tercion when he was in this mood. Except… it was a birthday party… "Cousin, was there any other way to—"
"Baron. Shut. Up. Now. Just drive."
God, the look in Tercion's eyes, like a wild animal. "Okay, okay…" he cousin consented. The Jaguar rolled away from the conflagration with only a final, mournful glance from Baron. About three blocks away, the time freeze wore off, and the few who had yet to be burned to death screamed in agony for their last few moments of life.
The next morning, several dozen miles away, a man who had missed the party hung up his phone. There were tears drying in his eyes, but otherwise he seemed elated.
"Good news," he announced to his second in command, with what could have been either a grin or a grimace. "Freiderich is gone. Dead. Burned up, most likely by General Tercion. Remains of Temporarium on them, probably frozen before they were set on fire."
"That's good news?" the second in command gasped. "Mitcham! He's your… He's our cousin! And he's dead!"
A bizarre, nearly mirthless little laugh bubbled up in Mitcham's throat. "I know. He's gone. It's sad. But you don't understand. If Freiderich is gone, who's in charge of the family?"
His companion frowned. "Shouldn't it be Viola?"
"Not for long. Not when everybody hears about this. No, she's not going to be able to keep up this pacifism stunt when her brother and some-teen other members of the clan are dead." The leader leaned back, wiped his eyes, and truly smiled. "Finally," he whispered. "I have the power. Let's make this feud a war."
World Background: Excerpt: Beginning Magi-Structural Studies edition 3 (published 2241 CE) We humans of Earth have long considered ourselves the only certain intelligent life in our universe. Whether we are or not, however, is not a current concern. What is far more significant an issue in our times is that there are intelligent forms of life in other universes. Over the last 136 years, we have encountered a wide variety of sentient, intelligent beings from our sister universes, or “dimensions.”
In 2105, we discovered that our dimension was the fourth in a set of ten. These ten universes are arranged as if in a chain, coming down form a master dimension, “The Motherlode” or “One,” from which all power and energy in all chains of universes springs. Our chain is called Guardesia (Gwahr-day-see-uh), and it is only one of many. We do not know the chain settled next to ours, but the placement of universes in it differs from ours. While the planet Earth is in Guardesia’s 4, our neighbor’s 4 is offset from ours; we call it 4.5 (perhaps a self-centered term, but it has caught on).
The reason modern science gives us for there being multiple universes and chains of universes is that the energy in each dimension is different. Chains are universes with similar energies, in various concentrations. As you go down a chain, from Universe 1 down to Universe 2, say, it requires less life energy to live in a dimension. Thus, when a being from Universe 1 “drops” to Universe 2, they have excess energy, which can be channeled into what we call magic. The more universes one drops, the more magic one accrues. This is also true if one switches chains; for instance, by going from Universe 4 to Universe 4.5 (which, though also a 4 dimension, is below ours on a chain map and requires less energy than 4) a human from Earth gains magic. We discovered this when we first emigrated to Jarnesinja, the main planet in 4.5.
Now if one knows where the doors between dimensions in one chain are, it’s easy to go down the chain. (One can, of course, never go up, because beings from each universe have exactly the amount of energy required to live in that universe; going up, one wouldn’t have enough energy, and would die faster than instantly.) But going between chains is a little trickier: it requires what is called a “cheat hole,” or a warped portal between the chains. The hole connecting 4 and 4.5 happens to be hovering over Earth’s Austria. In 2105, our technology became advanced enough to find it, and emigration began. Emigrant numbers upped significantly during and after World War III, and now the human population in 4.5 is nearing sixteen thousand. But we are, of course, not the only ones there. Beings from our chain’s 2nd universe, the Elcarin, had already colonized Jarnesinja when we arrived; the original inhabitants seemed to have died out. The Elcarin, having dropped two and half dimensions, are massively powerful. They allowed us to live on Jarnesinja under a few conditions, one of them being no war. WE have upheld this promise so far, but it looks like a civil war is brewing in the Jarnesinjan country of Allecour. We can only hope the storm does not break.
Excerpt: Intro to Modern Allecoursi History, 2200-2270 (published 2273 CE)
As is commonly know, post-World War III, during the immigration rush to 4.5, while governments were being built, rebuilt, continued or dissolved entirely, it was clans that became the true centers of loyalty and power. This was less true in the New World, but clans still carry weight in 4.5, as is being exemplified by the feud-turned-war between the Valmonts and the Gutenbergs. Everyone knows of this warfare (and has some vague idea of how it’s managing to obey the Human-Elcarin Treaties with such huge casualty numbers), but it should still be explained how this fighting came to be.
When we arrived in 4.5, everyone got the magic associated with dimensional drop due to the misalignment in the chains. But one British family, the Valmonts, received a special power: Temporarium, limited control over time. Through bloody ritual, a second level of Temporarium can be achieved: Spatio-Temporarium, with which one can create a tiny dimension over which the creator has total control.
The Valmont family used this power to take over two countries, Allecour and Halii. The Valmonts have grown enormously in numbers (almost entirely through incest) and have become a pseudo-royal clan, exempt from the laws that apply to non-Valmonts, what they call “Commons.”
After a few decades of Valmont reign, a new family arrived in 4.5: the Gutenbergs. This German clan found themselves the possessors of a second special power: Cambiatorum, limited ability to change the laws of physics. The Valmonts were furious and terrified, and resolved to run the Gutenbergs out of their new home here in Allecour. But the Gutenberg patriarch, Dieter, and a number of well-connected anti-Valmont allies stood strong. For some time, the Gutenbergs used peaceful protest under Dieter and his children, twins Viola and Freiderich. The Valmonts tried everything they could to heat the feud up to a war, lead by Commander Alora Valmont. The Valmonts even got allies, an American clan called the Ayers. A few years ago, the Valmonts brought in a new, young, brilliant, and terrifying general: Tercion Valmont.
In 2267, General Tercion killed Freiderich Gutenberg, prompting Mitcham Gutenberg to edge Viola out as patriarch. He’s since gained two important ally clans, willing to fight: the Browns, mercenaries who practice a harsh religions native to 4.5 called Frialla, and the Garcias, Puerto Rican immigrants who’ve produced General Julio Garcia, who at 16 had been international chess champion for 8 consecutive years on Earth.
In 2269, the next heir to the Valmont throne was born. The Battle of Jaramounte, fought on March 21st of that year, was the first battle after his birth. Everyone was excited for the battle, but no one expected it to turn out quite as it did…
(Blogger's note: That was a shortened world background that was sent out to us. You don't even want to see the world backgrounds on her game submissions, before she pares them down.)
Group Background: The Browns, Chosen People of The Lady, Prophet and Goddess Mizanote Altore
The Brown family originally emigrated from Zealand Station on Earth. ZS is a space station hovering some fifty miles over New Zealand, shaped exactly like New Zealand. When the aboriginal New Zealanders took back their land in the late 2000s, along with a number of other ex-colonies, the non-aboriginal kiwis built Zealand Station; the same thing happened in Australia and theirs is called Aussie Station. ZS is an interesting place: its economy is sound, it survived World War III easily as a neutral nation (aided by the fact the whole population evacuated to 4.5 during a particularly terrible stretch of warfare); everyone there is perfectly healthy… but it’s boring. There is none of New Zealand’s beautiful scenery, though some of it can be found replicated in holographic chambers on the station. The people there are living on bread alone, no circus. So a number of interesting trends find an audience in ZS, one of them being the native religion of 4.5, Frialla. The Brown family are some of the Stationers who converted to it.
Frialla calls itself monotheism, though it has numerous demi-gods and additional supernatural beings. It’s mostly built around Mizanote Altore, a woman who was a member of the Dakai race (4.5’s original inhabitants, all of whom are either extinct or have vanished into other dimenions). To be precise, she was Penshi-dakai; there are four dakai tribes: Penshi, Kuro, Mudai and Naburometo. According to Friallan tradition, Miza was a prophet, a goddess, and a savior. She is called the Lady by her faithful. She is said to have risen from poverty and become the key to her home empire’s success; she overwhelmed countless enemies, most famously the warrior-prince Jeriadon Vergant. She is aided mostly by her two supernatural friends: Yasprev the All-Seeing Snake and Lamorene, the Dread Wolf. The Lady Miza is the center of all Frialla, and her teachings were… well, not exactly moral by most Earth standards. They include putting pride before honor, putting success in business or a cause before personal happiness, and having respect for those higher than you on the social ladder, especially employers. The Friallan Bible is full of lines like, “which is better: to attack an enemy to his face, so that all can see his pride extinguished… or to murder him, quickly and quietly, from a vantage point unseen, so that there is no pride lost in his death?” And no, none of the commandments are “thou shalt not kill.” Miza encourages killing those who are in the wrong by her laws.
Now the Brown family all converted to Frialla a generation back, lead by Laney Brown, mother of Grenade and Anya Brown. They moved to 4.5, to the Friallan colonies. These colonies are little communes way out in the countryside far from Allecour; the one the Browns reside in is called Baragabrok. There’s lots of nature, a completely Friallan education system, and it’s very peaceful, very quiet… except for the hundred and fifty Friallans using the shooting range, prepping themselves as their Lady’s holy army under Her direction. Literally. Six months before game, the Lady Miza came down from heaven to address her devotees, flanked by Yasprev and Lamorene. Mitcham Gutenberg had hired the Browns to fight as assassins in the war with the Valmonts and to help in the battles two years earlier. And Lady Miza told the Browns that she was pleased with their taking this job, because allied to the Valmonts were the Catholic Ayers. As members of an opposing, powerful faith, the Ayers were mortal enemies of Frialla and should be destroyed. The Lady also said an opportunity to increase Frialla’s power was coming, and it did the next day when General Tercion Valmont came out to Baragabrok, and offered to pay the Browns to help him take over the entire planet. He had a plan to give Mitcham Gutenberg Temporarium, and form an alliance. Miza agreed to some kind of terms with him, and told the Browns to take the job. Over the last half a year, they have been doing Her work and his. And now General Tercion has said that it is time for his plan to come to fruition. At the Battle of Jaramounte, the Lady’s work will be done, and the True Church will inherit the world it began in.
Character: Anyagadore “Anya” Brown
Anyagadore (Ahn-yah-gah-doh-re)— means “strong flower” in Kurodakai; used as a metaphor in the Friallan Bible for the noble Juniessia, an early convert to Frialla
Brown— Brown haired or brown skinned. Brown was derived from complexion, color of hair, or garments, and is consequently a very common surname. Includes a number of derivatives in many countries.
Anya has never known what it’s like to not be Friallan, and she doesn’t want to. Her mother, Laney, got the whole clan into the Friallan Church and moved them to 4.5. Anya has been living in the colony of Baragabrok her entire life; she was pulled out at age eighteen to start fighting for the Gutenbergs, and she wanted to go back almost immediately. Her homesickness decreased when her Lady Mizanote Altore appeared and assured Anya that she was doing the right thing by fighting in the non-believer lands. Miza singled out Anya by commending her bravado in battle, and Anya just about died of joy. Anyagadore has always been extremely devout; she wants to become a priestess now that she’s old enough. She’s actually 24 years old, and so has been of age for three years, but her participation in the war deferred her dream. Anya’s opinion on the war is that it’s been wasting her time; but now that her Lady Miza has come down and has given her a new purpose in fighting, she’s stopped complaining completely.
Anya is especially close with her older brother Grenade, and her second cousin Daniel, who shares her extreme passion for Frialla. But Anya is a little more… vicious in nature than either Daniel or Grenade, and she’s generally seen as crazier than they are, too. Sometimes she gets lost in the heat of battle, and last year she broke a Valmont’s arm in three places. But Anya isn’t usually overtly brutal; normally her “craziness” takes the form of a general disregard for other people’s feelings. In this respect, she’s much like her cousin Marissa. Except that Anya can understand what other people are feeling… she just chooses not to. After all, everything in this life and the next are what the Lady Miza wills them to be. Perhaps people should stop fucking complaining if the Lady Miza wills them to hurt by Her loyal servant. In the Bible, did Jeriadon Vergant get to whine to Mitcham Gutenberg when the Dread Wolf Lamorene decapitated him? No? Well then, why should Terrell Gutenberg get to when Anya steps on his foot? He shouldn’t! And people should understand that. Anya knows her orders and impulses are coming from the highest of all possible sources, and she carries them out proudly and without regret.
How Game Went: Sadly, I never got to play this wacky game, as it was postponed a week due to rain, and I was unable to attend the following week. The character was still played by a friend of mine, however, and I am assured she did her justice. As for the game, Tercion was horrible, other people had a lot of conflict, and there was a big battle at the end. All as it should be!
