A War in Heaven

( An optional Backplot )

Once upon a time there was a green and verdant planet. Natural evolution had blessed this planet and it brought forth not one but two advanced civilizations before the zenith of prehistory. Each of these great nations was gifted with great Magic, Science, and Art (which they saw as being the same thing.) They far outstripped their less evolved brethren who settled into the remote areas of the world. The two great nations would share nothing with them and rained fire upon them when they tried to attack.

Both of the great nations came from a common evolutionary stock. but sadly like so many things. Tragedy would soon come to pass. Naturally, the Atlanteans would decide that they were more fit to rule the globe. Had they not tamed the harsh land and made a verdant garden from it? Did they not know the secrets of the waves in the air and the language of the stars? Similarly, the Egyptians believed that they should control the resources of the planet. Didn't they have great Magic? Their Scientist-Priests could assume the forms of animals at will, and know the flow of the secret energy of the earth. Surely the Atlanteans would see that they were superior.
And so it came to pass, That a terrible war was waged. The flying pyramids and primitive fighter ships of prehistory clashed in the skies giving rise to the primitive people's oral traditions about a war in heaven, wheels of fire in the skies, and many other things. The primitive peoples cowered under what shelter they could find and prayed to the gods to end the fires in the firmament.

The Egyptians were more able in the battlefields and their magick was mighty indeed. Their warlords were taught the trick of assuming an animal aspect in order to increase their ferocity and prowess in battle. It seemed that this war was nearly a foregone conclusion. The Atlanteans were outnumbered and in some ways, they were slightly behind the curve technologically.

However, the Atlanteans had another card to play. They had spoken to the stars...and the stars had spoken back to them.
Soon, The skies were filled with strange living ships from another world. They were crewed by small gray creatures with large dark eyes. They called themselves the Tafrexis D'Mon and they had mighty mental powers. They had come from afar to look upon the planet and learn from its peoples. They understood what it was like to be persecuted and attacked. They too were in a war with others from across the sky. They proposed an alliance with the Atlanteans. Much of their technology ran off of psychic power. In exchange for this raw resource to help power their war effort. they would provide with extremely advanced mental technology and biotechnology (which was completely new to them.)
The Atlanteans weren't happy to give up their energy but they needed help. It was a happy discovery to find that the primitive people could provide as much raw energy for the Tafrexis D'mon war effort. Large numbers of the hapless tribes were rounded up and subjected to horrible tortures. The Tafrexis would take on a horrifying illusory aspect and go among them to collect the energy they needed. Apparently, mortal terror generated the most power. Mankind never forgot nor forgave these depredations. and to this day legends persist of these horrifying creatures.

The tide of the war turned. the living ships of the D'mon were far more maneuverable than anything the Egyptians had. They spat fire and could heal damage. The Egyptians learned terror. it is said that most of these ships eventually died of old age on this planet. The last one killed by an Englishman with a lance in the dark ages...but that's a tale for another time.

The Atlanteans and D'mon unleashed biological warfare upon the people of Egypt as well. Horrific viral infections which were designed to cause maximum tactical confusion and horrible psychological damage. Lycanthropy and Vampirism are but a couple of the horrors that were inflicted. 

The Scientist-priests were becoming grim and frantic. They were barely holding the line. They feared that Egyptian society would be wiped from the planet. The war had dragged on for 425 years already. Just as the Egyptians were getting to throw in the towel and sue for peace...a miracle happened.

The other side contacted the Egyptians.
They were made of light. They called themselves the Elohe. They could not fight the D'mon directly, they sang to the Egyptians. But they could help the Egyptians destroy them if they were willing. They sang songs of how the Tafrexis was using this planet as a big battery for their galactic war machine. The Elohe wanted nothing from the humans but to deny the D'mon this resource.
The only other option was to steam clean the planet. Naturally, the Egyptians accepted their help.

The Elohe gave the Egyptians advanced knowledge of magnetics and electrical systems. Showed them how to instill a portion of their vital essence into control stones of their ships that would enable them to hallucinate a virtual reality simulation for use with the A.I.'s of their ships. Thus negating their newfound aerial advantage. The Elohe also gave them the science of directing, channeling and refining the secret energy of the earth into all manner of things. Great structures rose to be powerful batteries for this force.
The Elohe also poisoned the well of power that the Tafrexis were using. Unbeknownst to the Egyptians, The Elohe ranged far afield and found distant tribes that had not yet been exploited by the D'mon. To these tribes, they gave a bit of an evolutionary boost and the wisdom to resist the D'mon when they came. Tafrexis society was utterly shocked the first time a hominid tribe killed one of the raiding parties.

The Elohe also gave power to some of the tribes. Certain dying men and women would be given great powers...but often times they would go mad or die horribly (The Elohe would seem to know when this would happen and would always be elsewhere.) The legends of the Nephilim also come from this period. Some children would be born but always the unearthly energies would destroy them.

The war teetered back and forth. Finally, the Egyptians found a way to utterly destroy the Atlanteans. They built a machine that was to affect the gravitational field of the entire planet which would cause untold havoc upon the Atlantean forces. The Egyptian forces were confident that their abilities would allow them to steamroll the enemy force in the wake of that reversal.
Unfortunately, during the last offensive, the entire land mass began to crack apart and the poles of the planet shifted. Hundreds of billions of lives were lost.

Antarctica became a mass grave for the powers of Atlantis and many of the D'mon fled from Earth. Sadly, the Pole shift wrought unexpected climactic changes upon Egypt and destroyed it's verdant Eden-like ecosystem utterly. Egyptian society suffered a massive slide and many of the secrets of the first kingdom were lost in the sand.

Satisfied, the Elohe left a tiny garrison on the backwater planet to deal with any straggler Tafrexis and left earth completely.
An age of miracles had passed. The telluric energy of earth was badly broken. it's ley lines badly fragmented.

Millennia pass. Enter the player characters...

What is the difference between magic and science? Back in the days of the First War, they seemed to be the same thing. There are things that a player can encounter in this enlightened and scientific age (especially if he goes poking about in deserts or antarctic ice floes) that will beggar the meager vocabulary that humans have developed to date.
Superscience marvels that seem to be built on a technological base that is utterly foreign to the modern mind....But they work. And there are those who will stop at nothing to gain those powers. Occult conspiracies spin down through history. Some designed to uncover as much of the lost lore as possible. Some designed to collect as many of the treasures of the lost age as possible. Some are designed to protect the bloodlines of the Egyptian remnants and the Atlantean refugees. (who are stronger in magic/psi than your average person) and other conspiracies are designed to destroy these remnants of the lost age because of the massive destruction these fires from Olympus can cause. Are these fears sensible? Sometimes....

And what of the off-worlders? The Elohe-Doyen crushed the Tafrexis empire some millennia ago. Those still on the planet must lay low for fear of discovery. It helps that the Doyen presence here is tiny. Still, the D'mon have learned how to tease energy out of humans over a much longer period as long as they have a minuscule sample of the DNA, they can do it by remote. In return for that consideration and to act as their eyes and ears in the human world, (always on the lookout for the Doyen) The D'mon will offer all manner of simple services in return. costing almost nothing, netting them years of energy before a final, potent, harvest at death.
They have you sign the contract in blood for a reason...

Why are they collecting this energy? They have been breeding themselves for a long time now and at some point, they expect to make a comeback. This planet has become their home after all this time. and they don't mind sharing it with mankind...They have been so generous after all.