In the future... there will be dinosaurs.
No, sorry, wrong future.
In the future, the Protectors of the Plot Continuum are scattered across the multiverse. Old tasks are carried out by new groups, with little resemblence to their old forms. Look deeper into the swirling mists of time, and see the myriad homes the Protectors have built themselves...
The four schools of Paladins continue their ancient (well, at least middle-aged) mission: the defence of the Word Worlds against all forms of badfic. To each School is given certain time-hallowed rights - and duties.
The grey-clad Demas Paladins are Assassins, endowed with the authority to take the life of uncanon. Their fortified bastion in the Warhammer 40K 'verse is an ideal training ground for the rigours of combat - but is, of course, equipped with massive portal generators in case it should be discovered.
The Basel School, led by the former Canon Librarian Xander, hold the keys of exorcism - and the responsibility to use them in defence of the canon even at the risk of their lives. They make their home on a planet called The Library, in the Doctor Who 'verse, relocating in time and space whenever they become noticed amid the endless shelves - or when the attack that closed The Library forever draws near.
The Pyron Paladins, robed in the red and gold (or as everyone else calls it, 'orange), are tasked with the destruction of uncanonical locations and items - but carefully, of course. Their spacegoing fleet is made up of the spoils of the war on uncanon - in particular, those parts of the spoils which are able to fly through the void and blow things up.
To the Indim School is granted the power to relocate people from one dimension to another - whether they be canon or uncanon. The portals on which the PPC relies are held in trust by the Indims, and they make their home in the mountains of New Caledonia, long a PPC stronghold, able to protect this powerful technology.
Rumours abound of a fifth school, the Flow Paladins, who held all four of the rights - assassination, exorcism, demolition and transportation - but were closed down within five years of their formation. Nevertheless, some claim to have seen them in the quiet places of the multiverse...
By far the largest of the remnants of the PPC are the Rangers, almost invisible in their camoflagued uniforms. They scout the badfics of all creation, the first to enter, and call upon the Paladins most suited to the task. Their home is the multiverse itself, but their base lies under the Misty Mountains of Middle-earth.
Supporting them are the Technomancers - or the dosats, as they are commonly known. It is said that their leaders - an AI known only as Ghost, and a computer simulation of the legendary Makes-Things - can supply any technology in the multiverse... for the right price, and if they can be located. Their flying city coasts the spaceways of the multiverse, cloaked and invisible, and at its heart lies a well-kept secret: Node, a man encased in an impenetrable shell, whose mind is wired directly into the ship's body. Whispers say that he was once a Technomancer named Dann...
To ensure the PPC's expansion, the Harpers spread out from their home on Pern to scour the multiverse for recruits - at least in theory. In practice, most recruits are accidental, or extracted from badfics by Paladins. The Harpers concentrate primarily on giving them basic training, before they move on to be fully educated in their chosen vocation.
And at the heart of the spreading flower of the PPC is the House of Rhodes - the shattered, labyrinthine heart of the old PPC HQ. Here all the children of the PPC meet in the vast Cafeteria. Here the Council - the heads of all the components - assembles to discuss the war they all wage against uncanon. Here the small administration corps known as the Link keep their records, barely more than a census of the PPC's followers. And here, somewhere, there is a twisted corridor... a closed door... a keyhole.
A key.
The key turns. The door opens. And a link between past and future is once more established...
"It just doesn't feel like the most efficient way to do things," Paladin Lucy of the Demas School explained. "You call me in, I call Sara for help, we all report back to the Link..."
Durran Illian shrugged, throwing his mottled cloak back over his shoulder. "It seems to work," he pointed out. "And, Lu, you don't want to throw the word 'efficient' around too much. Remember those stories of Mum's about the time before the Sundering."
"But that's what I mean," Lucy exclaimed. "Not the Department of Efficiency, obviously," she made the sign of Legal with one hand, "but the whole 'department' system. Wouldn't it be easier if you didn't have to pay the dosats for your analysis devices?"
"Hey, less of that," Sara Illian spoke up. "You'd do me out of a job if you stopped paying me."
Lucy rolled her eyes, and Durran leant across to whisper in her ear. "Never talk about someone with augmentations behind her back," he said. "They have superhuman hearing."
"Or maybe you're just not very good at being quiet," Sara pointed out. "But, speaking of... I'm getting some
weird readings off this corridor."
Lucy looked up and down the corridor. "It's grey," she said after a few moments. "Like, you know, all the others. Okay, it's a bit less battered than most, but..."
"And it's filled with active portals," Sara said. "We just stepped through one - we actually passed from one universe to another for no reason. Why would the Indims do that? It's weird."
Durran looked around carefully, letting his training as a Ranger substitute for Sara's augmentation. "She's right," he mused. "This isn't one of the main corridors, but it's in near-perfect repair. I mean, the doors still have
numbers on them. Those were all taken off years ago."
Lucy bit her lip and looked between the other two. "Um," she said. "This doesn't sound good."
"No," Sara agreed. "It sounds like... remember Grandad's timeslip device?"
"I used it once," Lucy nodded. "And I know Aunt Jasmine visited the Old HQ..."
"But we
haven't timeslipped," Durran protested. "I mean... we'd know, wouldn't we?"
And far behind them, through the tangled corridors of 2012's HQ, the door swung open once again...
Or... RP time, anyone? The basic premise is that there is now (briefly) a door between the HQ of now and the House of Rhodes of the year 2069. Three of my agents have wandered through it. Who will they run into? And who else will come through?
This isn't an Emergency. It's an opportunity to roleplay agents talking to each other - to discuss aspects of the PPC we take for granted - and, if you choose, to create new characters from that future time and introduce them. Mine are all descendents of my current agents - yours don't have to be (but can be!). You can make them just for this, or use them to write future-based missions.
The primary sources for the future setting are mostly... this post. There's also
Time Will Decide For Us, which covers the Sundering (briefly), the House of Rhodes and the initiation of a Demas Paladin (they've got a thing about ritual);
End of the Beginning: Seventy Plus, which presents a (short-form) mission, and
EOTB: Ghost's Story, which is set during a brief evacuation of the Technomancers' city.
And since the prose version can be a little wearing, here's a summary (with notes on what each organisation is descended from):
ORGANISATIONS
The PPC -- A largely scattered body with far more independence between its components. Overall leadership is assumed by the Council, made up of the leaders of all the sections of the PPC. The Flowers have given up leadership as a group - if any of the breed remain in the PPC, they are scattered across all ranks.
The Paladins -- The Action Departments of the old PPC. There are four schools:
-Demas (DMS) -- Those Paladins with the right to assassination. They have the most ritualised entrance proceedures. They wear grey uniforms.
-Basel (Bad Slash) -- Those Paladins with the right to exorcism. They are led by Xander, former Canon Librarian.
-Pyron (DOGA) -- Those Paladins with the right to demolition. They wear orange and red uniforms.
-Indim (Despatch & Implausible Crossovers) -- Those Paladins with the right to interdimensional transportation.
The former fifth school, Flow (Floaters), held all four rights, but were shut down within five years of forming.
-Note that these are the only Council-authorised Action-Department-analogues in place. The Infrastructure-Department-analogues aren't so restricted - if you see a niche, decide who it's descended from and fill it.
The Rangers (Intel) -- The largest remnant of the PPC. They are the first to enter any badfic, and call in the appropriate Paladins to do the active work. They tend to wear camoflauge.
The Technomancers (DoSAT) -- aka the dosats. They still provide technology to the PPC (for a price). They are led by an AI calling itself Ghost, and a beta-level simulation of Makes-Things (from the Revelation Space 'verse).
The Harpers (the training side of Personnel) -- Provide Agents with groundings in a large numbers of fandoms. Task-specific training is handled by the departments.
The Link (the admin side of Personnel, and various other Inf departments) -- A very small central administration corps who are little more than census operators.
PLACES
House of Rhodes -- The centre of the old HQ, named after the Rhodedendron. Contains a small administrative corps (the Link) and the PPC cafeteria.
Demas -- Warhammer 40K. Base hooked up to massive portal generators in case of attack.
Basel -- The Library, Doctor Who. Due to the Vashta Nerada attack, their entire base is occasionally portalled back in time and to a new area of the Library.
Pyron -- Fleet of mass destruction.
Indim -- New Caledonia to protect most powerful technology.
Rangers -- Misty Mountains, Middle-earth.
Technomancers -- Flying city (Cities In Flight) with surrounding. Their city is actually a McCaffrey-verse shellperson (with Warhammer 40K, Star Trek and Doctor Who enhancements) known as Node (ie, Dann).
Harpers -- Pern's Southern continent. 50-year time jumps to avoid Thread. Some have Fire Lizards.
RP guidelines: Not many, really. Be polite, don't God-Mod, and let's try to keep it all in a single chain, rather than splintering off in all directions.
Oh, and Have Fun!
hS
(PS: Obviously, the prose above - and particularly the section with actual dialogue - is intended to be what the first replier responds to... unless they want to send someone else through the door, instead)
