The Infinite Macabre

[Grey]

This is a variation on White Wolf's 'mirror' for World of Darkness titled Infinite Macabre. Since the toolbox approach is always encouraged, I put together a version of the setting for my own use and thought I'd share it.


Contents:


Introduction - A Galaxy of Darkness


1. Earth

A - The Council of Terra


B - The Circle of the Crone


C - The Cradle Freehold

2. The Spinward Federation

A - His Vengeful Host


B - The Cheiron Megacorporation


C - The Carthian Republic


D - Research Vessel

Star Dragon



3. The Dismal Void

A - The Consilium of Magi


B - The Free Krewes


C - The Invictus


D - The Aesir


F - The Changeling Courts

4. Horrors of the Void

A - The Hedge


B - The Promethean Moon


C - The Worm-Oracles


D - The Gangrel


F - The Children of the Void



Introduction: A Galaxy of Darkness


The precise date of mankind's exodus is lost, and few consider it relevant now. No, what really gets people talking is why. It is the year 1021 Consilium Calendar, roughly one thousand five hundred years since..., well.


They say that once humanity found the tools to colonize new worlds, the Forsaken wanted us gone...


They say that the space race was the Mekhet's long game, to escape the sun...


They say the Mages felt the pull of the Watchtowers, out in the Void...


Well, whatever the reason, we got into space and then we went to war. Bringing a little human nature to the stars. Making it feel like home, perhaps. The end result is that werewolves rule Earth, and mankind has to share system real estate with vampires. The mages, for their part, decided keeping the peace was one of the best uses of their abilities, and the Consilium set about advising - manipulating - the various factions.


But space isn't safe, regardless of how quiet it may seem. The only way between distant stars is effected by the Dolmens, huge circular stone artifacts locked still in space. Made of some unknown material; carved with symbols that make your eyes itch and faces that trouble your heart, they open the path to The Dismal Void; the space below space where travel is faster but terrible things may find you. Screw up your use of the gates, and you might find yourself in The Hedge, a hellish, nonsensical realm where it is claimed some hideous alien presence lurks. A malevolent intelligence that doesn't just wait for you, but snatches people from their ships without warning. Sometimes it even lets them go.


So that's where we are now; spread out across space with wolves camping in our old home, rubbing elbows with the undead and jaunting through hell to go faster than light.

 

[Grey]

Earth


Earth, Terra, the Homeworld. Call it what you like; this is the cradle of Mankind and gribbly derivatives thereof.


It's a paradise, now. A sprawling wilderness of primeval forest, dense jungle, rolling plain. Immense beasts roam as they did in antiquity, from sabre-toothed cats to bears the size of a small tank.


And ruling over it all is the Council of Terra, sometimes called the Howling. The Elders of all the Forsaken Tribes dwelling on Earth with their mortal families. They compete for space with The Circle of the Crone, Vampires of various clans that refuse to leave Earth like many of their kin. The Circle is tenacious, and frankly has no right to keep their hold on Earth, but many mortal adherents and thralls make it difficult to remove them entirely - and some members of the Council argue that maybe they are part of the ecosystem afterall.


Eden is the only 'real' city on Earth, carefully constructed and monitored as a place for the Disapora to come home and get in touch with their roots. Pilgrims born on far-flung worlds often turn up here to add to the economy and see the planet of their ancestors.


The Council of Earth


The Howling, the Elder Council


The Council of Earth is the real ruling body of Terra. It is comprised of the Elders of the Forsaken Tribes, a few Consilium advisors, and representatives of of the Diaspora and Cradle Freehold. The rules of the Council are the ancestral laws of the Tribes - trial by combat is acceptable, hierarchy is to be respected, each member has a role to play. Eden is the only place guaranteed to be safe for mortals, the grand city maintained by more urban Uratha in a titanic feat of spiritual and physical engineering. Indeed, some offworlders make uneasy comments about 'thought police' keeping the spiritual ecosystem in the finest balance possible.


The real meat and bones of ruling, so to speak, happens at an undisclosed location; the so-called Prime Locus, or Gaia's Font. Here the Elders commune with the Earth Spirit and make major decisions about the future of the People.


The Circle of the Crone


The Leech Insurgency, the Inheritors


The Circle exist in paranoia and hiding. They know that if they so chose, the Uratha could destroy them at any time. They are hassled by Spirits and hunted by Werewolves, but somehow they are allowed to survive. They draw neonates and ghouls from Eden and hide in some of least hospitable regions of Earth. It is believed they have a stronghold near one of the poles, and indeed they do seem more active during months when long nights descend on the polar regions. They do not often leave Earth, but some far-flung tendrils of the cult can be found proselytizing to potential members in distant colonies.


The Cradle Freehold


An unaligned Freehold of Changelings, they come to Earth in droves seeking asylum. They claim their 'Keepers' cannot reach them here. A reclusive lot, the Freehold never leave Earth if they can avoid it. They covet lore of all kinds and maintain a vast library somewhere out of sight. Their presence on the Council is most conciliatory, since they make only small contributions and suggestions, and put forward requests for strange 'defensive' precautions. They are struggling to convince the Council to let them mine for iron and import quite a lot.

 

[Grey]

The Spinward Federation


Located Spinward of Earth, the Federation is a collection of systems and worlds enjoying a level of co-operation and economic interdependence, a mash of cultures and ideologies, political systems and values. Among worlds in the system are the worrying Kolob, where the entirety of the remaining Mormon church relocated on moving into space, claiming they are now close to god; the Fourth Reich, a largely fascistic planet with a focus on cloning technology that is leading them towards widespread genetic breakdown; Altarius, a moderate world with little difference in values from 21st century Earth, aside from the massive leaps in technology.


A few other forces operate here, or are connected to all worlds. For example, the Cheiron Megacorporation trades on almost every populated world in the Federation.


His Vengeful Host


The Pure


The Pure Tribes of the Uratha fled Earth and took the stars in the face of unknown pressures. Now they roam the Spinward worlds, recruiting from or viciously assaulting human worlds in the name of long-dead Father Wolf. They want to assault Terra, but are still preparing forces they feel will be necessary. They will sometimes descend onto older colonies in small numbers to influence the developing Spirit ecology to suit their whims.


The Cheiron Megacorporation


The primary producer of advanced biotechnology, pre-fabricated colonial machinery and habitation domes, medical products, cybertechnology, and defensive solutions across the Federation, most larger companies are actually Cheiron subsidiaries. Their monopoly is mostly unchallenged and they fund a great deal of resource connection missions to distant worlds. One of their only serious competitors is the Weyland-Yutani Conglomerate.


The Carthian Republic


The Carthian Republic is a single world in the Federation which serves as home to a sizeable number of Vampires and their mortal allies/thralls/companions. They present a face of co-existence and harmony to outsiders, but the Republic is in denial about its own unfortunate habits and accidents. It has become easy for them to hide in plain sight.


Research Vessel Star Dragon


The Star Dragon is a vast, mobile research facility drifting around the Federation on the whims of the Ordo Dracul and surrounded by their fleet, of which it is the flagship. Here they conduct arcane and mundane studies on a wealth of different topics, from Vampirism itself to the mysterious of the Dismal Void. Indeed, many could be called transvampirists, seeking to transcend their nature in the same way some human worlds in the Federation have embraced cybertechnology.

 

[Grey]

The Dismal Void


Space is vast and dark, and full of terrors. But it's also full of more... ambiguous parties.


The Consilium of Magi


Every Mage has seen them; the Watchtowers. The great, ominous constructs that lie sleeping on alien worlds in unknown regions. The Consilium wishes to find the Watchtowers and unravel their secrets, but for the time being they have a job to do. As the wisest and most powerful (in their opinion) of all the forces in the Galaxy, it is their duty to advise and aid the other factions without ever interfering directly. They have some subdivisions and internal strifes of their own, however.


The two most striking elements are the Free Council and the Silver Ladder. The Free Council preaches a path of balance, equality, peace, and enlightenment for all. To the Silver Ladder, power is all. Only those who can seize and hold power are worthy, and if one can do that without being Awakened it remains impressive enough to merit reward.


The Adamantine Arrow are warrior-monks and serve primarily as advisers on human worlds alongside the Council. The Guardians of the Veil watch the watchmen, as it were. The Mysterium are xenoarchaelogists, seeking the secrets of the universe and those who tread the stars before us.


The Free Krewes


Fact: No one is going anywhere fast without a Sin Eater. They can open and navigate the Void like no one else. A lot of Sin Eaters wind up working on crews or getting attached to ships for along haul, but plenty of Free Krewes roam the stars looking for money and adventure.


Empire Invictus


The Empire covers a system near the Spinward Federation. Each world in the system is the domain of a Vampire overlord, loosely affiliated with her fellow planetary overlords. Each ruler styles themselves differently and rules in a different way, but strict hierarchies and staid traditions are very much a feature of their worlds.


The Aesir


The Aesir found something, or something found them, way out in the Void, and they are no longer simply human. An isolationist faction whose technology is sufficiently advanced so as to resemble magic, the Aesir entertain delusions of godhood and their location is poorly mapped - arriving as they do via their 'Rainbow Bridge'.


The Changeling Courts


There are four courts, out among the stars.


The Sword of the Stars


Once the Summer Court, these militant Changelings seek weapons and allies to take the fight to Arcadia, and settle for being a mercenary army in the meantime, roving around the Galaxy in search of war.


The Carnival


Once the Spring Court, this collection of artists and hedonists roam settled worlds in search of fun and pleasure. Sometimes to the detriment of settlers.


The Scythe Compact


Once the Autumn Court, these scholarly types map and police the darker regions of space, and still maintain the Scarecrow Ministry.


The Edge Seekers


Formerly Winter Court, the Seekers are looking for anywhere they can hide from the Keepers, on lost and desolate worlds or right at the edge of the Galaxy.

 

[Grey]

Horrors of the Void


The Hedge


The Hedge is a poorly understood otherworld, another dimension lying beyond normal space, beyond the Underverse, even beyond the Shadow. It is a nightmarish, alien realm of impossible geometries and twisting, unearthly foliage. And, it is said, a world lies at its heart from whence the terrible Fae come, to which unfortunate star-farers are taken


The Promethean Moon


They say somewhere out there you can find the Promethean Moon, a place where the Centimani go to contemplate their monstrous philosophy.


They say the combined weight of all that flux, all that Wasteland, has given the moon itself an unholy life.


And sometimes, if you pass that dead star on the spinward arm, something on the emergency frequency calls to you.


The Worm-Oracles


Decaying stations spin like clots of blood left floating in the void, lairs of rust and rot. Abandoned settlements broadcast eerie messages on the SoS channels. Black ships tumble from gates and drift lifelessly into the dark.


These are the abodes of the Worm-Oracles, ancient Nosferatu said to be gifted with powers of prophecy and insight, living among their damned cattle and sparse progeny, asking a tithe of blood for their boundless knowledge but delivering their wisdom in cryptic ways.


The Children of the Void


The Mekhet are out there, somewhere. The real heart of the Clan, not those found in the other factions and places of the Galaxy. It is said nothing happens which is not part of their schemes, and that they pull strings invisibly on every force in the Galaxy.


The Gangrel


Many Gangrel are part of the Republic, Circle, or Ordo, but a sizeable portion of the clan wanders the Galaxy on what they consider the greatest hunt of all, and you had best hope they never find your world.

 

[The Fuzz]

I like. Very broad and complex, you'd have to pick a theme for any given campaign and stick to it good and proper for the first few sessions.

 

[Grey]

[QUOTE="The Fuzz]I like. Very broad and complex, you'd have to pick a theme for any given campaign and stick to it good and proper for the first few sessions.

[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I know what you mean. I felt like everything had to be accounted for to some extent, so it doesn't feel too inorganic nor fails to use the potential at hand. Any given campaign would need you to pick some point of focus.


Personally, I always wanted to use it for a supernatural black comedy version of Firefly.

 

[The Fuzz]

Ship's engineer is a vampire. Every so often, someone suggests actually going down there to see what he's doing, but you know what? The ship's running just fine. Let's not.

 

[SephirothSage]

....I love this. Seriously. We must do this sometime.

 

[Alexandra]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I felt like everything had to be accounted for to some extent, so it doesn't feel too inorganic nor fails to use the potential at hand. Any given campaign would need you to pick some point of focus.
Personally, I always wanted to use it for a supernatural black comedy version of Firefly.

I don't own Infinite Macabre!


....and oooh; have just been reminded Mirrors Bleeding Edge is a thing.

 

[Cirno]

I don't own it either, but now I'm locked on supernatural Firefly.