The Judges of Tehom

This is a Setting in progress by RPGnet user Nick the Nevermet.

An Introduction to the World of Tehom

Think of the legends and myths from Ancient Greece. In these stories, great cities were rules by greater leaders, leaders who were capable of feats beyond that of normal men and women. These were heroes in the sense that they pinnacles of excellence, though their actual moral standing was highly variable.

Now imagine what a world would be like if those ancient Greek cities had a technological level just beyond our own. Hector defending the industrial power Troy against Agamemnon’s battleships and aircraft. A live news feed documents Bellerophon killing Chimera. Fans of Hercules argue in chat rooms about which feat was the best. A documentary claims to expose who really killed the Calydonian boar.

This is the world of Tehom, and those heroes, the Few, are its judges. This setting is primarily "epic": a sweeping tale of heroism (by at least the Greek definition), against a backdrop of great historical events. Judges of Tehom is a setting where superhuman celebrity-aristocrats either use their public personas for public and personal benefit or they are consumed by fame and conflict. The generic term on Tehom for the people with superhuman abilities is “the Few,” which is distinct from baseline humanity, known as the Many. Though there is a myriad of powers, many are part of legacies, or bloodlines that tend toward the superhuman. The Few rule independent city states in a type of neo-feudalism they call kleocracy, or “rule of the glorious.”

Tehom is a planet with an average temperature slightly colder than Earth that is dominated by large oceans (roughly 87% of the surface is covered by water). The majority of dry land can be found in a large equatorial archipelago called the Set Islands. Within the Set, one finds more or less earth-like conditions. However, the farther one goes from the set, the more strange and alien the flora and fauna of the planet become.

The human population of Tehom is heavily concentrated in large mega-cities called cosmopoli that can contain several million people. Generally, each cosmopolis is an autonomous political entity that controls several less populated nearby islands that are used for agricultural production and other natural resources. ‘‘The Course’‘ is the name of the most populated and prosperous region of the Set. Human society on Tehom is highly industrialized and developed, and a vast information network links the cosmopoli together, ensuring a highly integrated culture. Even the Duidainian Anarchy (The Duidainian Commune) is easily identified as Tehomin in style and culture. The technology level of Tehom is comparable to contemporary Earth, with the occasional superscience creation from one of the Few.

The Tehomin are descendants of planetary colonists from The Garden, an interstellar empire that came to Tehom to terraform it. The Garden failed in its efforts: The climate of the planet destabilized, undetected alien life awoke, and disease engulfed the human population. The Garden quarantined the entire star system, abandoning the colony to its fate. Death and ruin were commonplace until individuals with superhuman characteristics began to emerge within the population. Over time, these Few have become the leaders of Tehomin society, cosmopoli have been built and the Set has been tamed.

History & Geographic Description

Full Article: Judges of Tehom: History and Geography

Tehom is a planet hospitable to human life with an average temperature slightly colder than Earth that is dominated by large oceans (roughly 87% of the surface is covered by water). It is roughly the size of Mars, though its gravity is slightly greater. The majority of dry land can be found in a large equatorial archipelago called the Set Islands. Within the Set, one finds more or less earth-like conditions. However, the farther one goes from the Set, the more strange and alien the flora and fauna of the planet become. The Course is the name of the most populated, and prosperous region of the Set.

The humans living on Tehom (the Tehomin) are descendants of planetary colonists from The Garden, an interstellar empire that came to Tehom to terraform it. The Garden failed in its efforts: The climate of the planet destabilized, undetected alien life awoke, and disease engulfed the human population. The Garden quarantined the entire star system, abandoning the colony to its fate. Death and ruin were commonplace. Then a miracle happened. There is no record of superhuman traits within the Garden, but soon after Tehom was abandoned a small segment of the population began to exhibit abilities and powers beyond what humanity was capable of. These powers were highly variable in their form and seeming origin, and these superhumans became known as The Few. The greatest of them created the Stormward Council. A handful of colony centers survived thanks to luminaries such William Goodguide, Sunbringer, and Dimday Dragoon. Over the next several generations, human society stabilized, exalting their heroic saviors, the Few.

Recently, humanity has faced new challenges. Lord General Risha Thaime is building a military that rivals that of Molyvdos. The oceans is spawning alien monsters bent on attacking anything related to humanity. And most disturbingly, a new revolutionary government called the Dundainian Anarchy has emerged that denounced the rule of the superhuman Few over the Many.

The Few of Tehom

Full Article: Judges of Tehom: The Superhuman Few

The most notable characteristic of the human population of Tehom is arguably the presence of The Few, individuals who exhibit superhuman powers in one form or another. The Few are distinct from The Many, who are the "normal" or "baseline" human beings that comprise the vast majority of the population.

The powers of the Few are incredibly diverse, both in their capabilities (super strength, flying, casting spells, etc.) and their origin (some of the Few are born with their traits, some train, some are altered, etc.). Some do not even have inherent powers, but rather wield items of power. The most unifying characteristic of being of the Few is that fate twists around them in improbable and implausible ways. Coincidence seems to constantly conspire in the lives of the Few. They survive the impossible, meet one another by random accident, etc. These coincidences are not always beneficial, and they are not necessarily harmful. Happenstance seems to conspire to ensure the Few have “kleos,” actions & experiences that inspire awe in others. The Tehomin are aware of these oddities, and have tried to study the nature of the Few as best they can. The amount of consensus, however, is extremely limited.

Origins of the Few

There are very few hard and fast rules on the powers of the Few. However, some general comments can be made. The first question regarding any member of the Few is whether or not they are part of a Legacy, hereditary bloodlines of power. Founders are children who are born a member of the Few, despite having no ancestry of superpowers. In terms of Marvel Comics, think of Legacies and mutants. There are several ways to have superpowers beyond being a Legacy, including being transformed by some mystical or superscientific process ("the Formed"), wielding an item of power ("Keepers"), or even in rare circumstances diligent training ("the Risen").

The Roles of the Few

There are several common terms for the types of roles the Few occupy within Tehomin society. Archons are the leaders of Tehomin society. Where their authority comes from is secondary: Archons may be attached to business ventures, government agencies, or even organized religions (the lines between these categories are less distinct on Tehom than in our society). Generally speaking, the majority of the population use the terms "Archon" and "the Few" interchangeably, as there is an assumption that the Few are in leadership positions. The Few who are not Archons could have other roles to play, such as becoming mercenaries, criminals, madmen, or technical experts.

Tehomin Society and Kleocracy

Full Article: Jedges of Tehom: Tehomin Society and Kleocracy

The human population of Tehom is heavily concentrated in large mega-cities called cosmopoli, the largest of which measure several million people (Pinnacle, the largest cosmopolis, has an urban population of roughly 8 million). Generally, each cosmopolis is an autonomous political entity that controls several less populated nearby islands that are used for agricultural production and other natural resources. Human society on Tehom is highly industrialized and developed, and a vast information network links the cosmopoli together, ensuring a highly integrated culture.

The cosmopoli of Tehom are dominated by the Few – superhumans with powers and abilities fantastic in their scope. These powers may be something they were born with, developed later in life during a stressful event, the product of scientific experiments, or based on super-scientific items in the individual’s possession. Powers are exceedingly diverse, and many seem to defy the laws of science as understood by mortal humans. When one of the Few has a leadership position, he or she is known as an Archon, though many use the terms "Archon" and "the Few" interchangeable. Adoring fans follow the every move of the Archons, and this fixation is woven into the political structure of the cities as well.

This social order grounded in fascination in the Few is called kleocracy, the rule of the glorious. Kleocracy is a form of neo-feudalism. Kleocracy emphasizes the celebrity of the Few, noblesse oblige of the Few toward the many, and large scale monumentality to demonstrate the glory of the city state. Additionally, kleocracy is built on the idea of Archonic War, or the idea that it is better to have superheroic champions defend a city-state and its interests rather than full-scale military actions.

The primary exception to the rule of kleocracy is the Dundainian Anarchy, which is an island run without superhuman rulers. While they are culturally still quite similar to the cosmopoli of Tehom, their government and revolutionary ideals terrify many throughout the Set.

Things to do on Tehom when you're Glorious

This section describes the way this setting can be put "in motion" for a game.

Current Challenges and Obstacles

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.

The Other Archons

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.

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.

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.

The Duidainian Anarchy

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.

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.

Hadalians and the Monster Tide

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”.

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. Many Archons watch the sea, waiting for the next monster tide.

The Mad Legion

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.

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.

The Larger Questions

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:

Set apart from humanity by great power, what will you struggle to achieve, and what will you sacrifice?

There are three things in this question:

• 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?

• 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.

• 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?

Examples from media

The tone of this setting can be found in several media references:

• 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:
  • 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.
  • 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.
• Regarding comic book sources, the possible sources are varied.
  • Power level, we are talking about Civil War - era Marvel Universe.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Glossary

• Adhocracy. An element of kleocracy. In short, the responsibilities of Archons is fluid and not defined by a fixed office as found in formal, bureaucratic organizations.

• Archonic War. The preferred form of violent conflict between Tehomin city states. Rather than having a conflict between militaries, the city states of Tehom often will have a duel between champions to determine the outcome.

• Archon. An Archon is one of the superhuman Few who has a position of authority within a cosmopolis. The type of power or authority is not defined by the term Archon: one could be a military position, a governmental role, a magnate of a particular industry, or anything else. Many use the terms Archon and the Few interchangeably, though this is not technically correct.

• Auxiliary. A mercenary or freelance member of the Few who is hired by a cosmopolis, a corporation, or an Archon. To be an Archon implies a general responsibility, while being an auxiliary suggests a narrow set of responsibilities and rewards.

• The Banished. The banned are outlaw or renegade members of the Few that have no responsibilities for running a cosmopolis (Lord Genderal Risha may be widely considered evil, but he isn't banished). Some pillage for personal gain, some are motivated by vendettas, and some appear to just want to watch the world burn.

• The Common Sphere. The realm of Tehomin society left to the daily life of the Many. This is the realm of humdrum work and family life.

• Cosmopolis. A Tehomin city-state. An independent political entity, a cosmopolis is a sprawling sustained by international trade, the powers of Archons, and the hinterland territories under its control. Cosmopoli, save for some key exceptions, are ruled by Archons.

• The Course. The Course is a channel in the middle of the Set Islands that collectively form the most developed, prosperous, and populated area of the planet. From space, the Course looks like nothing but cities and sea.

• The Few. In-setting term for superheroes, individuals who have some degree of power that goes beyond normal humanity. The Few may be magical in nature, users of super-science like powered armors, altered on a biological level by science (intentionally or accidentally), or they could be a heredity mutant and therefore part of a Lineage. Some members of the view do not even truly have super powers as such, but are rather exceptionally trained individuals. Different city-states think about the Few differently and organize their societies and legal codes accordingly.

• Focus. A mystical item or weapon of power. When a member of the Few has a focus, he or she is called a Keeper.

• The Formal sphere. The realm of Tehom society associated with control and leadership over political and economic concerns. It is the realm of Archons.

• The Formed. A member of the Few who gained his or her powers due to some event or process that occurred during their lives. They were not born with their powers, nor are their powers dependent on an external object.

• Founders. A human born to parents who have no powers but who nevertheless has superhuman capabilities. Founders have the ability to begin legacies.

• The Inhuman. A member of the Few who is not actually human. They could be a robot, or a nonhuman life form.

• The Kairos Covenant. An alliance between Srimec City, Pinnacle, Saltmerche Citadel, and a dozen smaller cosmopoli.

• Keepers. Members of the Few who possess an item of power. Unlike many other members of the Few, Keepers do not have any inherent superhuman abilities.

• Kleocracy. The neo-feudal form of government that dominates Tehomin society. It is the rule of the glorious, the rule of the superhuman Few over the Many, combining temporal power with celebrity.

• Legacy. A legacy is a hereditary bloodline within the Few. In short, they are mutants who exhibit superhuman powers. Some cosmopoli, like Pinnacle, are actively run by lineages, while in others they are distrusted as being detached from the Many. Some forms of cryptotechnology exist that can identify lineages, and sometimes even suppress lineage-based powers.

• The Mad Legion. Members of the Few who have gone insane from their power.

• Magistrate. Technocratic members of the Few. They have given up celebrity in the name of expertise.

• Monumentality. An aspect of kleocracy where the Archons of a city spend resources creating monuments and major works that demonstrate the power and glory of the city and its rulers.

• The Many. Baseline humanity. The Many are the vast majority of the population, and they are "normal" humans. Due to the history of Tehom as a lost colony, the range of physical variation associated with different races is present, though society is not as explicitly organized around race and ethnicity as many societies on Earth. The main question is which cosmopolis is home.

• Patrimonialism. An aspect of kleocracy where the Few are expected to act with responsibility and charity toward the Many. It is noblesse oblige.

• The Peers. The secretive ruling council of the Dundainian Anarchy.

• The Risen. The Risen are those Few who are not members of lineages, but gain their powers through some form of rigorous training.

• Sacritech. Super-science, the technology created and understood by the super-intelligent Few. Sacritech is not merely more advanced than baseline Tehomin science; it is qualitatively different. Sacritch always appears to the Many to be violating one or more natural laws of the universe (be it thermodynamics, gravity, or something else).

• The Set. The Set is gigantic archipelago near the equator of Tehom. The vast majority of habitable land is found among the Set Islands, and as a consequence, it is home to the vast majority of Tehom’s human population. The Set’s ecology is almost completely Terran in its character, though some precursor life remains around the edges. The deep oceans far from the shallow waters of the Set are a source of mystery and dread for much of the population, and its dark abysses are havens for pre-terraform Tehomin life.

• Stormward Council. The original ruling council of the Few that helped humanity survive the abandonment by The Garden. They are seen as the founders of Tehomin civilization.

• Static Struggles. A highly formalized type of archonic war.

• The Synopticon. The civil sphere of tehomin society. It is the realm of community and culture.

• Technocrat. One of the Many who has risen to a position of influence due to his or her expertise. Archons rely on technocrats to help make their endeavors successful.

• Ventures. Organizations lead by Archons. They may be oriented toward business, governmental responsibilities, or something else. The key trait is they are a formal organization recognized by a cosmopolis.

Campaigns

• Defenders of Eiren is a campaign set in the democratic free city of Eiren Bay and follows the exploits of the city's heroes.

Religion, Science, and the Tide’s Eye

The Tide's Eye is the name for how certain people and places gain unusual powers and improbable lives. The distortion of probability and the expected laws of physics has been well documented by the Tehomin, and they have spent generations debating what it could mean. Generally speaking, the various beliefs attached to various religions, philosophies, and hypotheses revolve around whether the Tide's Eye phenomena an expression of a consciousness? If the answer is no, then the Tide's Eye and the Few are the result of some sort of natural, if strange, phenomena. If the answer is yes, then Tehom has a world-mind and an intelligence, albeit an alien one. At that point one must also ask what the Tide's plan is for humanity and the Few? What is it pushing humanity and events toward? The speculation on this issue becomes rather religious in tone, with answers ranging from maltheism to apologetics and theodicy.

The following is a brief list of some of the common lines of thought among the Tehomin:

• Nammanism is a religion that believes that Tehom, in addition to being a planet, has a consciousness of its own, and it is actively guiding humanity toward some end. Nammanists are sometimes called Tidlings, though many view that as a derogatory name. While the Nammanists Nammanists have successfully promoted the cultic veneration of famous Archons, both past and present, within much of Tehomin society. As the practice seems to have a small but measurable positive effect, the Archons encourage the practice. However, cultic worship of Archons has, as a practice, become disconnected from Nammanism, and is much more popular than the philosophy that spawned it.

• Marducists is another philosophy that is older than Nammanism. Like Nammanism, it believes that The Tide's Eye is a god-like consciousness controlling events on Tehom. Unlike the other world-mind religion, however, the Marducism has a maltheistic view of the Tide's Eye, viewing it as manipulating humanity for ends that are not beneficial for humanity. A common fear is that the Tide's Eye orchestrates devastation for its own entertainment. Marducism has always been controversial, as the Few cannot help but in some ways be representatives of the Tide's power. Nevertheless, there have been the occasional mystic who has argued humanity must turn the tools of the Tide against it to achieve freedom. Marducist rituals involve attempts to satiate or “blind” the Tide’s Eye in various ways. An austere variant of Marducism, the Wind of Hills, has become popular within the Dundainian Anarchy. Marducists can be found among disaffected Many throughout the Set, though one can find factions of the Few in both Thaimbase and Novum Volsci who are practicing Marducists.

• Iterationists reject that the Tide's Eye is in any way conscious. Rather, they argue the planet somehow serves as a psychic feedback loop, responding to the collective dreams and fears of humanity. As humanity's desire for survival became increasingly its sole concern, Heroes emerged, and as humanity began to understand what Heroes were supposed to be, the nature of the Few stabilized. With varying degrees of cynicism, Iterationists often try to experiment to see if they can manipulate the Tide's Eye to maximize desirable effects. There have been some successes, but many more failures. Pinnacle promotes a “soft” form of iterationism, that downplays the idea of manipulating the Tide’s Eye, while the version promoted by Srimec City is deeply invested studying the Tide’s Eye in an attempt to control it.

• The Remnant Church claims to be the religion of the Garden. More accurately, it is a synthetic faith that combines the beliefs and practices known to be within the Garden when Tehom was colonized and terraformed. The result is a religion that appears to either be polytheistic or transtheistic in its character, often talking in terms of myths that they view as important metaphors rather than literally true. In its most elite forms, it is a religion of scholars and mystics. Paradoxically, its common forms are incredibly diverse, as local variation is actually encouraged as long as it fits certain parameters. Because of this, the Remainers discuss the Tide’s Eye in a way that sounds both like the Iterationists and the Marducists: the Tide’s eye can be thought of either as a force or as a being, just as all things in this world can be. Beacon is a center of Remnant thought.