A Strange Eon

Excession

Infohazard
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Look for groups
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
Genres
Horror, fantasy, sci-fi.
September 1940

An expedition from Miskatonic University, (Arkham, MA) travels to Guatemala to investigate the discovery of a ruined temple, speculated to date back the height of the Itza people's civilization.

They arrive to a brutal dictatorship installed by the US Fruit Company where the locals are worked as slaves under thugs armed with American rifles. Undaunted, the expedition continues their dig.

They do not return.

December 1941

The US Fruit Company reports massive losses of staff and product from the Guatemalan plantations, and when communications fail entirely they send a senior executive to investigate. His last contact with the board of directors is twenty minutes of agonized screaming one day later. The CIA immediately suppress all information and personnel relating to the event, and when Pearl Harbour happens the Central American Crisis is placed on the back-burner.

Over the course of the war in the Pacific, contact with cities and nations around the Gulf of Mexico is lost. The Guatemala Exclusion Zone is implemented. Flyovers of the region show a transforming landscape and terrifying alien lifeforms.


January 1948

The US Government finally becomes aware of the threat growing in south and central America. Immigration laws get tougher, and the internment camps that once housed Japanese Americans are now turned over to refugees. Other camps are set up in Texas and New Mexico.


Tuesday 18th, February 1948. The Nine Hour War.

Cultists among the refugees near El Paso summon an entity codenamed Medusa. Within an hour, every living thing in three counties was killed and eaten, or transformed into a servant of the creature. The National Guard are deployed in unforeseen numbers. After six hours of bravely holding the line, the survivors are relieved by the full force of the US military. The official story alleges a dissident organization, possibly funded by foreign actors, acquired an atomic weapon and staged a coup to force Texan secession from the union. By doing so, the argument goes, a constitutional crisis is circumvented and the public remains unaware of the real nightmare.

Eyewitnesses are interned for observation and information suppression. Those who can't keep to the official story 'die of radiation exposure.' Many more really do die; of alien infections, suicide, and less evident causes. Lobotomy patients flood the appropriate institutions.

Certain survivors are collected by the CIA and are legally declared dead.

When it seems the situation is stable and congress is scrabbling to deal with the broader effects, the man in charge of the aftermath - General Roger Armistead - writes a lengthy letter defending his actions while addressing the sheer horror of their results.

"All I have done, Sirs, is strive to protect America and the souls of her people. All that I have done has been to kill the monsters on our soil - and now, I kill one more."

He then walked onto his balcony and shot himself in the head.


March 1948

The rest of the decade is spent on ever more draconian immigration laws, clandestine raids, and funding sent to groups in South America to contain the threat. Meanwhile, the El Paso Quarantine is established and Texas is readmitted to the Union. The CIA begin their global campaign of terror in earnest, suppressing governments they perceive as threats to American capital and power. Since no government body has yet been formed expressly deal with the occult, and thus receive no funding, the CIA use a portion of their illegal activities to fund a borderline splinter group fighting against the spreading cults.

Heavily guarded mass graves are dug around the refugee concentration camps.


February 1950

Senator McCarthy leads the foundation of the Bureau for Inhuman Activities, obfuscated with the Bureau for Unamerican Activities. The initial staff is comprised of the rogue CIA faction and survivors of the Nine Hour War, with a small number of refugee camp survivors.. Ruthlessly, they investigate and arrest those accused of holding certain texts, expressing certain opinions, and talking about things they should not know. McCarthy insists it is for the greater good. Other Senators are hard pressed to disagree. In secret, the nascent BIA also has children born in the camps under their care, as many are beginning to demonstrate sorcerous talent. They abduct certain patients in mental institutions for testing in this new Metaphysics Division.

The Bureau spends the next decade building up numbers, performing research, and advising the government how best to contain sites of infection. They also establish contact with similarly-aligned agencies from other nations, such as the Freemason-Templar Detente and the Sons of Solomon.


1960. Present day.

Congratulations, agents. You've been assigned to the New Orleans office, with jurisdiction over Louisiana. It's a high risk zone, located across the Gulf from codename Zero Point. Analytics is still determining the likeliest target, but you've got a base of operations, a budget, and clearance for one Metaphysicist. As usual, you're to keep an eye on academics, immigrant populations, and celebrities. Proper orders will be in the pipe soon enough.

@Alexandra
@Sideris

Could do with four players.
 
My brain may in fact be healthy enough to play! I'll take anything.
 
Terrifyingly interesting. :3

I would happily be a third player.
 
Excellent. I have some example characters if necessary, and I'm happy to let Alexandra dibs the metaphysicist.

Anyone got concepts or question, while wait and see about a fourth?

I would like someone to take agent in charge. And that can't be the spooky one.
 
I'm interested. Any idea on the games pace? Daily posts, every few days, weekly?
 
I'm interested. Any idea on the games pace? Daily posts, every few days, weekly?

I'm happy with a weekly pace as long as it's consistent - a few times a week would be nice, but I realize we've all got lives.
 
I'm happy with a weekly pace as long as it's consistent - a few times a week would be nice, but I realize we've all got lives.

Sure, sure. A few posts a week is very doable for me so I'm interested.
 
Awright, I'll have a signup thread soon. I'll probably just use current Chronicles of Darkness with some minor tweaks to run this, but those will mostly be our Metaphysicists problem.
 
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