The Hollow Worlds

Fiction from the Dark Frontiers of Aether 1879.
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The Hollow Worlds

Post by arcanus » Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:24 pm

Pipers Fort - Hollow World
The fields gently sloped down for several acres before they reached the woodland which formed a perimeter to the college grounds, long switch grass swayed in the damp morning breeze.

The grizzled form of Nathaniel Brocklesby examined a patch of ground covered in tuberous scarlet red vines, rubbing his stubbled chin he set to digging the invading weeds out.
As always the bastards proved difficult, writhing and squirming around the fork until he wrenched them from earthly soil, panting he took a breath before committing them to fire.

As he listened to them hiss and burn he noticed movement in the tree line, hopefully deer, sqirrils or a flock of the keets, but no such luck as a small walker broke into a striding gallop through the foliage.

“Fer gods sake” he grumbled, turning to his wheelbarrow he opened his rifle bag and drew his Witch Rifle “More every week” he said to himself as he shouldered the wide barreled rifle.
Drawing a bead, he watched the swirling ribbons of energy within its scope, following the alien machine as it darted trying to remain in cover before make a break for the college.

As it charged he fired three times, Etherium discs arced across the clearing exploding through Martian metals, the walker shuddered, staggered and collapsed, Nate waited keeping his bead.
Moments passed before seals on the domed body hissed, a hatch opened allowing a slimy red form to slide from its capsule, as it twitched and tried to stand, he fired, a noisome pop sprayed viscous gloop over the lawn.

The poacher turned grounds man grumbled to himself, now he had to clean all of this up and it would be hours before he could return to his boat on the Barbican.

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The Hollow Worlds

Post by arcanus » Thu Oct 04, 2018 2:11 pm

Pipers Fort - Hollow World.
Spray and salt broke across the rocky shoreline of Pipers Fort, the sky was a clear blue with a faint chill that reminded a person they were alive.

Gulls wheeled along the breeze, squawking their annoyance at the intrusion, some 5 or 6 miles out from the coastline an alien machine strode into visibility as if emerging from a thick fog.
The tripod strode menacingly through the sea making its way towards the buildings stood upon the top of the cliff.

Rapidly responding to another intrusion men at arms readied the batteries, from sunken mounts along the top of the cliff long cannon barrels extended upwards and rotated to a horizontal axis facing seaward.

Resembling a hybrid of rifled artillery cannon fused with connected brass pipes, dials and luminescent green tubes, the weapons hummed with Aetheric energy as the gunners sighted up.

Behind the emplacements stood a cylindrical building of Georgian design topped with an equally ornate domed roof, inside signal men programmed difference engines and etherphonic devices.
Antennae bombarded the tripod with counter messages, signal man Grace Heky watched the spikes on her dials “Sir, energy is building”
“ACTIVATE THE BREAKWATER, NOW!” shouted Watch Sergeant Hoyte

Beneath the sounds waters, stone pilings emerged from the seabed and rose, as they broke the surface each fired a jet of water, water that expanded into a raging wall of shielding the length of the breakwater.

The tripod lurched its alien pilot struggling to fully control it under the electronic onslaught, finally it managed to arm the machines terrible weapon. A heat ray seared out crashing into the aquais wall, a cloud of superheated vapour exploded across the oceans surface.

“We are charged” shouted the gunnery sergeant
"FIRE!" bellowed Hoyte
The cannons boomed, each firing a trio of rounds, a heavy thump preceded an explosion.

Collectively the signal men and men at arms waited until with no further signs of attack came, the barrier resided revealing two legs wobbling and a third having collapsed into the sea.

The militias commander Wexham lowered his telescope “Get the boats straight out for salvage, we will require more shells” his junior officers turned to begin the cleanup.

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The Hollow Worlds

Post by arcanus » Sun Mar 24, 2024 9:56 am

The Nox Regina - The Arium, The Higher Scope
Captain West looked out across the starscape, to their portside was Luna whilst below them the Brick Moon, one of the Empires Higher Scope Domains.

Below that lay the Expanse or what most folk referred to as the Scope, the discovery of the etheric world in 1812 had confronted mankind with a dizzying array of other places and most people, even the educated had little concept of how these places worked.

He watched as his bridge crew bustled about checking the consoles and difference engines, content that all was in hand.

To West it was no different to the layers of Earth if you dug in the garden, above the ground was the air, above that clouds and above that still the void of space, below the surface top soil, then darker earth, then shale, hard stone and so on, layers.
In amongst the layers were hidden warrens, knots, roots and even underground streams and pools, the worlds beyond were not so different, it was wizards and scientists who made everything complicated.
On the other side of the mirror was the Astral Plane the etheric echo of mother earth, the volatile etheric energies calmed by mana or white ether, once you travelled above the astral clouds you entered the scope, the etheric plane where white mana was rarer and the expanse the realm of more hostile and volatile elemental energies, the upside being that the Scope was malleable with either magic or the clever Enlightened inventions of Babbage and Lovelace.

If you knew where to look there were hidden places in both the Astral Plane and the Scope that led to other places, the Most famous being the Lost Worlds or Hollows, actual physical places seemingly trapped between the material and astral worlds.
If you knew how to navigate one could locate gateways in the Scope that led to Nether Worlds, unlike the Lost Worlds these were more alien spirit worlds and again if you knew where the right windows were you could travel up and above the Scope into the Arium.

Despite its failures and achievements, notably harnessing etheric or Enlightened Science mankind had not conquered material outer space, the few expeditions had met with often disastrous consequences, but material space had an echo The Horizon or Arium, essentially the Higher Scope.
Unlike material outer space it had the same properties as the Scope, various etheric and other supernatural energies were present and travellers cast their minds from their bodies meaning that whilst they risks harm from the etheric environment they didn't explode or freeze to death as soon as entering the Arium.

Celestial versions of planets and objects where found here, as well as things that did not exist or certainly hadn't been observed by telescopes and Earths various powers had quickly set about the more difficult task of creating Higher Scope Domains such as the Empires Brick Moon and the Heleograph Station or Prussias Lichtpalast.

Unlike the Scope proper safety navigating and building in the Arium was more challenging, the travellers form suffered dissonance far more quickly unless they travelled in Ether Ship and even then, so building Arium domains was a major undertaking.

The Nox Regina the elder Sabbath families Ether Yacht, or rather Lady Sabbaths with her husbands untimely death, an elegant vessel made not from the traditional Etherium but Nether Realm timber sourced by the late Lord Sabbath, although safe to say her fixtures and fittings were most certainly forged Etherium.

The ships Purser Mrs Fergusson stepped onto the Bridge "Just to let you know Her Ladyships guests have arrived Sir", West nodded frowning as some wisps of light raced across the darkness outside, illuminating a nebulous bank of emerald green ether, the other stark contrast to material space was that the Arium was most assuredly inhabited.
"Mr Smith, please keep an eye on those sprites in case they ignite that bank"
"Aye sir" replied the Ships Lookout
"Thank you Mrs Fergusson"
"And Lord Sabbath might be arriving to see his mother"
"Very good" 'A full ship' thought West to himself
Inspiration and Credit: Nemesis The Warlock Book IV & Space 1889.

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The Hollow Worlds

Post by arcanus » Sun Mar 24, 2024 11:42 am

The Nox Regina - The Arium, The Higher Scope
Lady Estaria Sabbath stood in her stateroom, looking out if the wide latticed window at the stars and planets beyond.

She shuddered her face shrouded in unnatural shadow that obeyed no legitimate light sources, her eyes glowing like embers.
“How are you feeling M’lady” asked Jacobson
“None of your business” she hissed
“There I have to disagree, it is entirely my business, you have completed your mantras and rituals”
“You’re as bad as Dunn, fussing like a mother hen”
“I cannot speak for Mr Dunn, however unlike his self appointed caretaking of you mine is pledged and bound to you, let’s not make this difficult Lady Sabbath” scolded the Cog Automaton
“How dare you tell me what to do!”
“I do dare upon both Lord Arthur and your insistence, so come along, your guests are arriving soon, you like socialising now don’t you!”
“Yes, very well” she pouted and fumed and began to recite a series of archaic chants and prays.

A short time later Lady Sabbath appeared from her dressing room, dressed in an elegant afternoon gown, her eyes once again their calmer amber and an
Infectious smile upon her face.
“My apologies about the earlier episode Jacobson, I’d like to say I don’t know what came over me!”
“No apology necessary M’lady it is why I am here by your side”
“And for that I am eternally grateful, oh and have the guests arrived?”
“Lord Admiral Ivaellon and his set are here, others are imminent I believe the usual ascension delays”
“Yes, yes, we’ll we certainly want everyone in one piece don’t we”
“We do indeed, is there anything else M’lady as ever numerous matters to attend to?”
“Of course, just one thing could you send an Ethergram to Gabriel, it would be good to see him, we’ve all been so terribly busy”
Jacobson nodded a motion in the scope that was significant more fluid than in the material “Consider it done!”

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The Hollow Worlds

Post by arcanus » Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:32 pm

The Nox Regina - The Arium, The Higher Scope.
The guests and their hostess had gathered in the Regina’s stateroom, such events in the scope although seen as terribly daring weren’t uncommon, but there were differences.

For example Food and drink in the traditional sense didn’t exist in the etheric world, however it simply wasn’t the done thing to socialise without refreshments so the guests sleeping flesh were fed nutrients and drugs eliciting the desired effect, by instruction of the domains Lovelace Imprints.

Of course campaigners and libertarians were quick to point out the vast effort and expense invested in making the aristocracy and upper class comfortable whilst the poor lived in misery.

Lady Sabbath laughed at Mr Mortaigne’s jest
“So what do we think of The Iron Dukes latest Military Bill” she interjected
“Oh must we talk of such dreary matters, replied Lady Catherine Reynolds”
“It was only a matter of time” chuckled Lord Admiral Ivaellon
“Well I know my husband cannot speak out of turn” responded Lady Ivaellon “But I think it does not go nearly far enough”
The Stateroom immediately erupted in guffaws and mock heckling
“Well you would say that madam, for you are a woman!” responded Mr Barcroft, a senior banker
“How observant of you Henry” retorted Lady Ivaellon with dry amusement
“What do you think Mr Trigg, being a Troll?” inquired Lord Ivaellon
“I’m inclined to agree Mr Lord, in my personal opinion the Reform Acts have merely been to boost the Empires flagging manpower and stifle insurrection, not to grant Boojums, natives or even British women actual equal rights!”

“Hear, hear” chimed Miss Caldwell “Just look at the labyrinthine hoops we must jump through and the places that people are still not socially acceptable, it’s nearly the 1880s for heavens sake, I have to get a professional endorsement and degree just to be able to work!”

“And your lucky in that respect Madam” responded Trigg
“Many of we Les Grotesques haven’t a hope of Professional Endorsement without significant patronage!” with that Trigg tipped his glass toward Ivaellon

“Least I could do, old boy, the Empire is in need of competant people irrespective and it being somewhat easier for the Eldren”

One of the stewards appeared bowing and waiting until Lady Sabbath addressed him
“Lord Sabbath is just ascending M’lady”
“Yes of course, you’ll excuse me for a brief moment and don’t stop the debate, it’s healthy”

Standing we waited just a moment to avoid the delayed effects of drink travelling the long distance between her body and mind, the Savouring they called it, satisfied she wouldn’t make an improper misstep she bowed and excused herself.

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