Sneak Peek: Squires, Gogs, and Magogs
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, Jul 24, 2022 at 09:36:18 AM
Hello Aethernauts,
A sneak peek for you on this Sunday! We'll have the full chapter available for backers on Tuesday, but to whet our appetites, let's take a peek at Chapter 3 a few days early...
Squires, Gogs, and Magogs
The discovery of Aether gave much of the scientific world pause, but its revelations haven’t stopped the world from turning. After all, the “unenlightened masses” — as some Aethernauts dub them — are barely aware there’s power untold just out of their reach.
Recent years formed steps upon which pioneers, adventurers, scientists, and the just plan monstrous have established a new chapter in history; one accommodating the century’s end and the new century’s birth. Squires, Gogs, and Magogs share similar stories in their genesis, but each walks a different path. Collectively, they are referred to as Aethernauts, but most prefer to use their respective group’s identifier.
This chapter outlines the origins of each group and lays out how they might fit into your stories, as player and Storyguide characters. Their placement in the world isn’t set in stone, but their actions contribute to an ever-expanding pattern or Aether use, misuse, disaster, recovery, and hypothesis. Your characters may draw from some, or all the events that contributed to the world of 1895.
The Noble (and Ignoble) Squires of Aether
It was from these budding detectives, explorers, treasure hunters, and adventurers that many Aethernauts became Squires. Considering themselves students in the study of Aether, and taking their name from a title used within the Esoteric Order of the Æons, Squires take advantage of the promise, or the risk, Aether offers in order to fill their lives with excitement and knowledge. Ever a dangerous profession, Squires hurry to etch out legends for themselves in the annals of history. As years pass and Aether spinning proliferates, Squires find their ranks bolstered. Some of the greatest of their numbers have already passed away, such as one whose exploits found an end at the Reichenbach Falls, only to be replaced by those eager to carry on their legacy.
For each Squire drawn to Aether’s dream of fortune or glory, others step forward for duty or to safeguard humanity from the world’s horrors. Scholars reflect upon tales from the past; of the dead being restored to life by long-lost scientific means, or creatures that rose from the grave; with a wary gaze. As the end of the century draws close, rumors of a new century born from those strong enough to grasp Aether’s promise becomes prominent, and secretive societies boom in number and scope, in the hope of favoring their own societal ascension.
Many such societies, each rich with experimenting Squires, strike out to establish themselves. The most famed, and ultimately respected, are the Squires of London, and their societies such as the Esoteric Order and Her Royal Highness’s Planetary Defensive Pact. Those of London earned their reputation for apprehending “dreadfuls;” the commonly-used term for what would later be dubbed “Gogs” and “Magogs.” Although the political class and law enforcement initially treated such groups with skepticism, it was the eventual capture and subsequent arrest of Kelvin Cowan that won such groups their overdue respect from independent Aethernauts. Making use of Aether to supplement his athletic abilities, Cowan revived and adapted the persona of the mythical Spring-Heeled Jack as his own, using it to perform a series of burglaries and murders across South England. The Esoteric Order shut down his operation and delivered him to Scotland Yard’s doorstep.
As a response to the rising governmental interest (and lack of understanding) in Aether, Gabriel Utterson published his memoir under the name Robert Louis Stevenson, telling of his encounter with the English doctor and chemist Henry Jekyll. Jekyll, a dabbler in Aether spinning and briefly a Squire in Tesla’s service, had refined the process of distilling concoctions in a means nobody could ever have dreamed — into a consumable elixir. His work quickly captured the imagination of many budding Squires, and before long Dr. Jekyll’s Explorers of the Unknown found their ranks swelling with those eager to make use of Aether on their own bodies. Edison, adamant that Squires possessed a civic duty to minimize Aetheric harm, worked — in part through altruism, but also through spite and a desire for profit — to amass a network of like-minded Squires across the world. There are many Squires who follow Edison’s Unwinders, as the society came to be known, intent to unwind as much spun Aether damage as they can.
In the wake of Utterson’s publication, which has been heralded as a fiction rather than a biography, more memoirs have emerged. One, penned by Wilhelmina Murray, told of the abduction of her betrothed fiancé by a descendant of the Romanian noble House of Basarab, Vlad Dracula. While exact details remained lost in translation to document, Wilhelmina’s text purported a proliferation of vampires drawn to devouring blood. By performing this act, these drinkers grow capable of prolonged life and other physical feats, which many Aethernauts tie to the Aether each body no doubt possesses. With Utterson’s book being regarded as a cheap but horrifying fiction, Murray (now Harker) was left unsurprised when the public at large devoured her work as bawdy pulp.
Nevertheless, Squires have since converged on central and eastern Europe, where Mina’s beasts are most common. Although Harker has since rescued her fiancé from the clutches of this one sanguinovore, the experience left its mark on her, and along with like-minded Squires funded the creation of S.O.M. — the Society for the Opposition of Monsters. To this night, she continues her crusade against these particular “Magogs,” a term used for humans irredeemably corrupted by Aether.
Chivalric Personages
A Squire may be:
- A budding explorer of the Os Viajantes, carving your way through the wilderness both physical and within your own consciousness, dedicated to reaching the inner secrets of the past and unearth the greatest treasures that humanity has forgotten.
- An eager judge of the S.O.M, burning with vengeance against the Magogs that threaten to harm you and your loved ones, armed with the mightiest Aether-infused weaponry, and fueled by dedication to bringing vengeance on the Immortals that stalk the night.
- A dashing thief dedicated to the Chevaliers d’If, making use of various newly crafted Aetheric tools to commit daring burglaries, earnestly trying to bring Aether out of the clutches of the rich and deliver such life-changing relics to the poorest in society.
The Shifting Form of Gogs
For all the diverse capabilities Aether bestows, risk persists. Few are brave, or reckless, enough to offer themselves as test subjects for experimentation. Of the few who do, exceptional powers await. But so too does great risk. Those who take the gamble are colloquially called Gogs and Magogs, seen as the natural progression of experimentation in Aether, sometimes for better, more often for worse.
The genesis of Gogs is tightly bound to that of Squires, emerging soon after Tesla’s discoveries first became public knowledge. Gogs begin as Squires, approaching Aetheric manipulation with an excitement and academic interest. Few, however, risk the steps that follow; bringing the Aether into themselves, altering their nature in ways that appear supernatural.
The first known Gog to emerge in Aethernaut society is not Henry Jekyll, as commonly believed, but Dr. Claude Griffin, an English chemist who built on Tesla’s acceleration engine to create a means to distill Aether into a topical salve. Griffin’s ointment altered the molecules of his body causing him to appear translucent. Taking advantage of this freedom, Griffin engaged in a series of violent assaults across London, revenging himself upon many who had slighted him in the past, until he was apprehended by Squires working with local law enforcement. Aethernauts interrogated him, for no-one had agreed on how to handle the arrest or incarceration of someone clearly Aether-altered. Handing him over would breach the veil of secrecy so important among Aether’s researchers and practitioners.
Griffin explained that years prior he had been contacted by an individual identifying herself only as “Awan, daughter of Adam, son of Victor.” Reportedly, Awan aided Griffin in researching alternative means to spin Aether in ways similar to Tesla, explaining her own grandfather had developed means to harness Aether from electricity. When Griffin demanded Awan provide proof of her grandfather’s work, Awan only pointed to herself, claiming her life was the result of Victor and Adam’s experiments. It took Squires only a short period of time to conjecture Awan’s identity; initially Tesla was reticent to accept the possibility bore any weight, claiming no amount of research he’d performed indicated dead tissue could be returned to life. It was only after Edison confronted Tesla with notes stolen from his burned laboratory that Nikola confessed such was indeed a strong theoretical possibility.
The ultimate fate of Griffin, however, remains unknown. Shortly after giving his confession, he escaped his bonds. Despite a citywide search, Griffin remains at large to this day. Although it’s widely believed that he operated with the Explorers of the Unknown, it’s just as likely that his freedom had nothing at all to do with the society and he found a way of mastering Aether to allow his invisibility to phase in and out at will. Following Griffin’s escape, numerous Aethernauts have reported individuals across the country exhibiting similar physical capabilities. Some allege that Griffin traded his secrets of Aether distillation to unknown parties in exchange for his freedom, although little investigation has borne fruit.
Transcending Lawful Strictures
A spate of robberies occurred around the world, reportedly the work of perpetrators able to walk unhindered through brick walls, or who flee through the streets faster than the eye could see. Uncertain how to handle this rise, many governments have hired freelance detectives; some of whom are earnest Squires. One of the more eminent sleuths, Irene Adler, raised the possibility that Griffin’s formula was distributed across multiple criminal networks intentionally, going as far as to indicate the doctor’s liberation was orchestrated by a high-ranking government official. For a while, it appeared Adler was prepared to label the Caesar Consortium as the party responsible. Before she could make such allegations and drag the secret society into the light of day, Adler quietly retreated from the public eye. The circumstances behind why one of England’s most famous private detectives would so abruptly cease investigation remains unknown.
The successful capture of Cowan, colloquially named Spring-Heeled Jack, drew renewed attention to those who imbue their bodies with this mystical chemistry. Some, including Edison, have voiced concern that those who apprehended him (who had supplemented their bodies in the same way) risk becoming indistinguishable from the “dreadfuls of London and New York.” This observation grows in popularity at the revelatory publication of Dr. Jekyll, once an esteemed Squire.
Jekyll’s work, suspected as having been built on Griffin’s, inspired great debate among the Squire community and ultimately led to a schism. Jekyll retains his mental acuity and sensibilities, speaking eloquently on Aether’s potential uses. However, his Hyde persona, more brutish and feral, served to undermine much of the points Jekyll raised. The duality was soon grasped upon by Squires critical to Jekyll’s ideas. Dubbed an “Aether-drinker” by his detractors, Hyde has been held up as an example of an individual becoming physically corrupted by Aetheric energies, to the point of being considered monstrous. Shortly after his notoriety reached the international press, Jekyll abandoned the Squire epithet and embraced his being something other.
Transmuted Beings
A Gog may be:
- A respected crime-fighting masked hero, working with a team of trusty allies and using your phenomenal powers to solve impossible crimes and apprehend the perpetrators, whether they are committed by regular people, nefarious Squires or even fellow Gogs or Magogs.
- A cunning weapons dealer, smuggling potent weaponry in and out of regions of Asia and using the underworld contacts to aid local insurrectionists, contributing to the war effort to rid the area’s inhabitants from the shackles of imperialist control.
- A wilderness explorer who makes use of Aether to increase your physical endurance, relentlessly charting inhospitable climates such as the frozen arctic wastes or the sweltering jungle heat, desperate to disprove the existence of the theory of the hollow Earth.
Harrowing and Vile Magogs
The case study presented by non-monstrous Magogs like Dorian Gray shows the worst of humanity. An unrepentant monster perfected in appearance and strength, kept alive by transference of the Aether within the bodies of his countless victims into his portrait over the years. The mechanism by which his soul was bound to such an object is a mystery. The infamous Blood Countess Elizabeth Báthory was notorious for her abject cruelty toward the maidens she tortured and butchered in her kingdom for the sake of her vanity. She maintained her unearthly beauty and immortality via direct absorption of the essence of her victims through bathing in their blood. Sadly, the rumors of her continued imprisonment in her tower bed chamber are just that, as the Blood Countess roams the world free to prolong her horrid life. More insidious reports of Magogs suspected to be associated with Dracula’s Immortals describe people fading away into nothing in their sleep as they are set upon by the incubus and succubus like the Chinese jiangshi that drink the qi, the soul of their victims, with a kiss. No matter the forms of these creatures, they share the same traits of consumption of their victims to sustain their monstrous powers.
The Greeks record some of the earliest accounts of the shape-shifting Magogs in their oral tradition and on their vases with multiple stories of transformation of man, god, and spirit for mischievous and nefarious ends. The more sinister tales in written history can be found in France. Marie de France in 1200 described a man cursed with transformation into a wolf, forced to sate his hunger with human flesh as a garwulf, a werewolf. The man was one of many in the area capable of taking on the form of a wolf without the aid of a wolf skin or the light of the full moon. Once he took his wolf form, he was faster and larger than any natural wolf with a demonic aura. Another accounting with more conflicting reporting is the rampage of the Beast of Gévaudan in the 1700s.
Shepherds and young boys were mauled by a monstrous creature with a significant stride that locals reported as a giant wolf. But other theories presented that it was not a wolf, but a lion set upon the people of Gévaudan. King Louis XV sent a squad of dragoons that laid waste to the local wolf population, but the deaths continued. It was not until a naturalist and hunter named Jean Chastel killed a strange man of abnormal height in a moment of peculiar transformation on the slopes of Mount Mouchel that the months of terror ended.
It was even more horrific when these murderous tales of yesteryear came to a terrible reality when police caught the Werewolf of Allariz in 1852. The bodies of the werewolf’s victims were all in a state of molestation; their clothing ripped to shreds by animal claws, with their bodies mutilated with chunks of flesh missing. The hunt for the killer took years before Squires found a lead on a traveling salesperson named Manuel Blanco Romasanta, 30 full years later. On the night in question, these Aethernauts witnessed Romasanta in a state of transformation, his muscles bulging and his form contorting like his bones were twisting in on themselves as he ravaged his last victim. Romasanta was observed tearing flesh from his victim’s body with an elongated muzzle between a man and wolf. Frozen by fear, it took the spell to be broken by one Squire by taking a shot for others to follow suit, taking down Romasanta before he could attack another woman. The Allariz newspapers blandly reported the trial, absent all the truth of what witnesses saw that day as written in an account by Dr. Luciano de Gros.
Utterly Monstrous
Unlike Squires and Gogs, the majority of Magogs have voluntarily divested themselves of humanity to embrace the promise of unmatched power. A story in which Magogs are the protagonists is possible, and encouraged, though we recommend keeping the following advice in mind:
- Monsters are universal and can be representative to any culture. If you don’t want to play a typical media depiction of a vampire, perhaps you could play a Tamil Peymakilir or perhaps the more horrifying misshapen Adze from Southern Togo or perhaps one of the psychic Bebarlang of the Philippines. A little bit of research in mythology and folklore will provide inspiration for unique beings to grace your table.
- Sometimes you just need a break from saving the world. Playing a Magog presents a change of pace to explore another aspect of Aether that you might be otherwise too worried about touching because you don’t want your Squire to be a “bad guy.”
- Roleplaying the consequences of power as a character progresses from a Squire, to a Gog, to a Magog, can be an intriguing long running storyline that deviates from the expectations of what is typical. Portraying a character’s fall can be just as impactful as playing their redemption.
These are just snippets - pieces of a manuscript, parts of a much larger whole. Hints about what the full chapter may contain will be addressed on Tuesday, when it will be available for backers to download and review - along with Chapter 4, which covers Character Creation.
So: first opinions? What are you looking forward to finding out about? What are you areas are you hoping the manuscript provides more context to? See you on Tuesday!
