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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4584751" data-attributes="member: 54707">Shark, I don't know you but I very much liked your initial examples of change in the Church as spreading throughout the general culture in Europe. It was an interesting set of analyses and choices.Change is common in my milieu. My milieu is set in two worlds. In one, the world in which Elves, Eladrin, Giants, etc, live, Arcane magic (Elturgy) is real. However magic also has side-effects, kind of like radiation exposure does to us. It can cause mutations, even monsters to develop. In that world magic is used like technology is here, but as I said it has side-effects and is causing "pollution" and other malignant side effects. (Not always, but enough to cause problems.) So the major political power there is looking for a replacement to Elturgy, a form of energy that will replace it. The leader of that nation is seeking support for replacing Elturgy with something else.In the other world, our world, events are set in the Byzantine Empire, circa 800 AD. Thaumaturgy (Divine magic, or miracle-working) is real but arcane magic doesn't exist. It doesn't work at all like a technology, and often it is uncontrollable or has unintended consequences, but it does work. The two worlds are exactly alike geographically, but not culturally, or as regards what species or animals exists there, etc. Humans live in our world, humanoids on the other one. The Elves and others have found a way into our world, and some among them have become fascinated with human religion, culture, and thaumaturgy. The leader of the greatest kingdom of elves even sees Thaumaturgy as a (at the very least) temporary replacement for Elturgy. He and some members of his court have secretly converted to Christianity, have secretly invited Christians and Jewish humans to his own world, and has been intensely studying miracles, religion, and God. Other elves, as well as some members of other cultures have an underground organization to oppose any replacement of Elturgy. So secret political factions, underground organizations, even terrorist groups have been developing. Different parties of elves, eladrin, dwarves, giants, and others all have their own views of the matter. Some of these groups are very anti-human and anti-anything dealing with the human world. They would kill humans if they could locate them. Some humans are now living on the Elven world in secret and some also wish to covertly study Elturgy. Meanwhile, on our world, the Emperor and the some of the Patriarchs of the Church have discovered the existence of the elves and others like them but don't really know where they come from, or who exactly they are. They think the leader of the Elves is really Prester John. Since the Byzantine Empire is currently involved in major wars with both the Muslims in Egypt and Syria and the Persians elsewhere they hope the elves are a Christian Empire and will offer them military assistance. But others in the church and some in the court and military think the elves are really devils or demons in disguise or at the very least Persian or Oriental spies hired by their enemies. Many deeply distrust the elves and their overtures. The elves want human support for their initiatives, the humans want eleven support for their problems, and neither side can afford to trust the motives of the other too easily.Both worlds are also pursuing mundane and what might be called proto-scientific civil and military technologies, but in radically different ways, to try and help solve their own various problems.But because of the various religious, magical, political, cultural, military, technological, and social conflicts and events (not to mention the competing parties) both worlds are in turmoil and both governments are facing insurrection and subversion and possible civil wars as well. So the conditions now, the situations in which the players are playing now, are very different from when they first started and first started making these different discoveries. Societies, cultures, and even religions are changing and shifting and sometimes benignly and sometimes violently. Ain't it the truth. The living truth.There are indeed time periods in which little happens. That's certainly true enough. But then again there are also time periods in which dramatic and sweeping changes happen in history all at once. The Peloponnesian Wars. The Punic Wars. Constantine converts and Christianity becomes the State religion of the Roman Empire. The Renaissance breaks out. The Archduke is assassinated. Germany invades Poland. Men undertake the first moonshots. The Berlin Wall falls and shortly thereafter Russian Communism collapses. 9/11, followed by the Afghan War, then Iraq.Sometimes a lot happens in a short period of time that it is almost impossible for anyone to escape the consequences of. In my game I like to place the player sin the middle of such "Historical Maelstroms."As part of the overall milieu cause I think it makes for a much, much better and more interesting background.Plus they can usually help shape events instead of just live through them.</blockquote>

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