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| − | [[Category:The_Judges_of_Tehom]]
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| − | This is a discussion of the themes and tropes of the setting [[The Judges of Tehom]]
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| − | =Current Challenges and Obstacles=
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| − | The world of Tehom is full of many threats that require the attention of Archons. It is worth identifying some of the more obvious threats.
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| − | ==The Other Archons==
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| − | Cosmopoli rarely go to war in a conventional sense. The expenditure of resources is too great, and the memory of the Waste Rebellion is deep. Instead, disputes are handled by Archons, diplomatically at first, and then in personal combat. While the collateral damage of two sets of Archons fighting can be dramatic, it pales to what a modern military could do.
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| − | Of course, not all conflicts between Archons are affairs of state. Some conflicts between Archons are at their core personal matters. When one has developed a celebrity-aristrocracy around the lifestyles of the superhumanly powerful, many things can become the cause of conflicts. Romantic entanglements and personal insults have lead to more than one popular Archon match vidcast.
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| − | Finally, Some Archons only have the name because they have power. These villains (sometimes called Petalans or the Banned) either sell their services as mercenaries, or commit piracy and banditry on outlying areas.
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| − | ==The Duidainian Anarchy==
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| − | The single largest landmass on Tehom is the island of Dundain. It was large enough to sustain three independent and very powerful cosmopoli. Eventually, these three polities went to war, destroying their economies and the island in the process. In an act that shocked the rest of Tehom, the citizens of Dundain rose up and overthrew the Archons, creating the Dundainian Anarchy (literally “Rule of no Anarchs”). Other Archons would have moved in to reestablish order if it wasn’t for the Anarchists acquiring control of a cosmopoli’s nuclear arsenal very quickly and publicly. Now , the Anarchy (they refer to themselves as the Duidainian Collective) is officially cutoff from the rest of the world, with few cosmopoli willing to recognize it as a sovereign state. It has rebuilt itself without the help of the Set, and one only wonders what they plan next.
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| − | The world lives in fear that Anarchist cells will begin to form in the Set, undermining the kleocracies of various cosmopoli. Player Characters may very well be the people to search out such cells. Alternatively, perhaps they will help the exiled Archons retake Dundain in the name of Highspire, Tenax, and Stoutfort.
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| − | ==Hadalians and the Monster Tide==
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| − | When humanity came to Tehom, it was a frozen world and humanity was unaware what slept beneath the ice. As the terraforming proceeded, a dormant ecosystem came to life, and generally the indigenous life was actively hostile to humanity and its ecosystem. Today, most surface life is terrestrial (or at least compatible with terrestrial life). This is especially true within the environs of the Set. As one moves toward the poles, or into open waters, or goes toward the abyssal plains under water however, life becomes alien very quickly. Many of these lifeforms are antithetical to terrestrial life. Many are dangerous and hostile. This other, pre-human ecosystem has become known as “Hadalian”.
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| − | A “monster tide” is when Hadalian organisms attack a human outpost, such as a mining rig. Sometimes, like the Urchin Tide, Hadalians attack a cosmopolis. The word “attack” is used because while some incidents appear random, others are very much planned. On occasion, a monster tide will take the form of a Leviathan, a gigantic creature, often a unique mutation, going on a rampage.
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| − | Many Archons watch the sea, waiting for the next monster tide.
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| − | ==The Mad Legion==
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| − | The Mad Legion are boogeymen that keep many a citizen and Archon awake at night. Some of the Few are driven insane with their power. Sometimes they would immediately begin to rampage through an area, other times they would lurk and slowly terrorize the population.
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| − | The Mad Legion is worse than the Banished, because at least with the Banished there are goals that make sense (make money, kill a particular Archon, etc.). The Mad Legion has goals, but they make no sense. Most worrying, however, is that members of the Mad Legion seem to act separately yet their actions build on one another. More than one person has wondered if there is a relationship between the gray plague of old and the Mad Legion, but no link has been substantively identified.
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| − | =The Larger Questions=
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| − | The Judges of Tehom is not an expression of the famous maxim of Marvel’s Stan Lee: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Instead the question becomes this:
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| − | '''Set apart from humanity by great power, what will you struggle to achieve, and what will you sacrifice?'''
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| − | There are three things in this question:
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| − | * '''Apart from humanity.''' Your character is one of the Few, a “superhero.” They are not, by definition, a normal person. They are different, exalted, and capable of things the Many can only dream of doing. How will your character handle this?
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| − | * '''What will you struggle to achieve?''' What does your character fight for? Personal wealth? Fame? Revenge? Or perhaps your character is a patriot, or devoutly religious. You have immense power, which begs the question of what you will use that power in the name of.
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| − | * '''What will you sacrifice?''' Is your character willing to risk their life? Their reputation? Or perhaps they are willing to let innocents die in the name if their cause. What about family? Or perhaps your character is comfortable having a life that is more private and possibly safer than one could have while trying to reshape the world?
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| − | ==Examples from media==
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| − | The tone of this setting can be found in several media references:
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| − | *Politics is extremely centered on the personal lives of the Archons that dominate most Cosmopoli. To think in these terms, there are several examples in TV and film we can turn to:
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| − | **The modern adaptations of Shakespeare are a good place to start. Anthony Hopkins' "Titus," Ralph Fiennes' "Coriolanus," and Ian McKellan's "Richard III" are all about the fates modern (or relatively modern) nations resting on the relationships and whims of a small number of people. Give Coriolanus super-powers, and you have a situation one could easily find on Tehom.
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| − | **There was a short-lived TV show on NBC in 2009 entitled "Kings," which starred Ian McShane as a modern day King Saul ruling a monarchy and dealing with David, Samuel, and divine intervention. It is a dark and complicated show, but deserving of more praise than it received. The world of Kings is a clean and modern world completely comfortable with absolute monarchies. Again, this fits the world of Tehom very well.
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| − | *Regarding comic book sources, the possible sources are varied.
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| − | **Power level, we are talking about Civil War - era Marvel Universe.
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| − | **In terms of the relationship between supers & the public, the very beginning of Kingdom Come captures the sense of fascination and celebrity the Archons enjoy.
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| − | **Alan Moore's famous never done project Twilight of the Superheroes, where different heroes (the Batman-related, the Marvels, etc) controlled different polities. This is very much the political reality of much of Tehom.
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| − | *While mostly set on a single planet, the tone of the game borrows heavily from the "Cosmic Opera" style created by people such as Jim Starlin, Kieth Giffen, and especially Jack Kirby. Godlings controlling a wonderous world where the difference between technology and magic is razor thin, if extant at all.
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| − | *Regarding other roleplaying games, “Aberrant” by White Wolf in the 1990s is relevant in that it is about superhumans who are not defined as crimefighters, and who have immense amounts of celebrity. However, while Aberrant is grounded on the question of how different the Novas are from humanity (or how different they should be or will be), The Judges of Tehom begins with an a priori assumption: The Few are different from the Many. The core question is what are the consequences of this distinction.
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