//|| //^^\\ || || .|. COHERENT COMICS UNINCORPORATED PRESENTS // || \\ || || --X--------------------------------------------- //======================= '|` ACADEMY OF SUPER-HEROES // || \\ || || ASH Universe Timeline v2.0 // || \\__// || || Copyright 1999 by Dave Van Domelen ___________________________________________________________________________ SECTION ONE: Pre-2022 ___________________________________________________________________________ Last Updated: 6/3/08 As the ASH Universe has grown, especially thanks to the DEEP ARMAGEDDON crossover and its fallout, the Timeline has become a bit unwieldy. As a result, it has now been broken up by year. This file will cover the stories that took place prior to 2022, which is the year most stories started happening. Because it spans the time from 10,000 BCE until 2022, it will cover events in much less detail than the other timeline sections. 10000 BCE - The offshoot of humanity later to be called Homo Sapiens Magi or simply Magi discover their inborn ability to manipulate the laws of nature. They begin to build an empire. 9000 BCE - Golden Age of the Magi. Society similar to medieval times evolves, but more dependent on magic for everyday life. The Council of Twenty ensures that magic is never abused to the point of endangering reality. 8700 BCE - The Thirteenth, later known as Omega, splits away from the Council of Twenty and begins to amass followers. He believes in less restrictions on the use of magic. Civil Wars break out several times among the non-Magi followers of each side, but the Magi refrain from combat. 8663 BCE - The Causality Wars are triggered when Omega directly attacks the Council of Nineteen by traveling back in time to kill them as youths. Soon all times are embroiled on these wars, and huge chunks of history are rewritten. The embodiment of Time itself takes a role in destroying several of the combatants on both sides. Soon all signs of the Golden Age have been erased, as if it had never happened. The few remaining fullblood Magi retreat to the Astral Planes which are immune to the ravages of Time and causality. A few people with some Magi heritage survive in the new timeline (known as Partbloods), and they swear never to use their powers again. 8000 BCE - No archaeological proof survives that the Magi ever existed by this time. The world reverts to a more primitive state while technology that works within the natural laws is slowly developed to replace magic. Partbloods hide their ancestry and thin the blood further by carefully not marrying each other. Meanwhile, the Magi in the Astral realms begin to see themselves as gods and demons and start to seek followers in the real world. 4000 BCE to 1000 BCE - Magi genetic traits, being not bound by normal laws of genetic selection, appear seemingly at random in some individuals, Magi Sports. These Sports perform acts that are the basis of legend. Certain Partbloods, having no knowledge of the oaths sworn by their ancestors, begin to develop ritual magic. 1000 BCE to 1400 CE - Ritual magic is perfected, but emerging Christianity limits its practice. The rules of Alchemy begin to bridge the gap between the Five Pillars of Reality and their breaking. Several Sports develop impressive magical powers, but still nowhere near those of the Purebloods. During this time, many Purebloods have begun to lose interest in Earth, and explore other realms adjacent to their Astral abodes. Priestly magic (which depended on contacting Purebloods) fades during this era. Simon Filius (aka Iago Montessi) codifies magic in _Cosmoclasty_ near the end of this era. In 79 CE, four supernormals from 2026 arrive, having unpredictable effects on the timeline. Two of them leave in 81 CE, the other two in 82 CE, but they create a divergent timeline. 1400 CE to 1800 CE - Persecution of Sports, Partbloods and even those merely suspected of having magic powers is endemic. Most Partbloods are killed or driven underground, as are many with merely the potential to pass on the gene. Magic goes into a major decline, and figures of legendary prowess are uncommon as Sports decline in frequency. 1800's - Spiritualism becomes popular and many Partbloods are able to come out into the open. As transmission of the Magene is partly a function of the desire of the parents to have such powers, more Sports are born and Partbloods give birth to children inheriting stronger powers than their parents. 1900 +/- 10 years - Discovery of Modern Physics, with Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Physics, as well as Relativity. Oddly enough, some results are difficult for certain scientists to reproduce, as if the initial findings were simply what the observer wanted to see. However, this is passed off as sloppy procedure and the sciences develop as they did in "our" world. early 1900's - Many scientists and inventors defy Physical Law with their finds and creations. However, few can reproduce the results, despite the fact no one can find fault with the methods of some of the scientists. And the inventions work, despite violation of the Laws of Thermodynamics. Most are ignored as crackpots and charlatans, but a few critics look for another answer. Most notable among these is Nikola Tesla, who himself was labelled a crank by Edison and others. 1938 to 1947 - The First Heroic Age. Although most of the heroes are simply rough'n'ready detectives and mysterymen, some have genuine powers, like the teleporting Johnny Angel. Others have devices that are impossible by standard physics, like Beacon's Light Lance (which was the basis of the technology used by Doublecross). A paper by Nikola Tesla is found that proposes that the laws of nature are mutable in the presence of a strong enough will. Like much of his writing, it was ignored in his day, but the heroes flying around give it new weight. The Edison Project is started in order to find a Superweapon using supernatural effects, but produces no results and goes deep underground during the Cold War. See http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH/FirstAge for more. 1947 to 1967 - Members of the Edison Project work in secret on the basis laid down by Tesla. With the help of a few Partblood sorcerors who told them certain ancient lore, project scientist propose Homo Sapiens Magi as an offshoot of humanity. A test is devised to determine the amount by which an individual could warp the laws of nature, combining Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics. Theoretically, an individual with Magi genes could cause a result to happen more often than it should (for example, speed up radioactive decay), and this could be measured. The Tesla Index is developed to describe the amount of ability a subject has. However, technological limitations prevent this test from being very useful. Anyone who registered as having a significant deviation from zero was pretty obviously not normal already. Meanwhile, engineers who didn't care as much for theory as results begin pushing the limits of the laws of nature. Some of them (who would later test quite high on the Tesla Index) develop revolutionary devices that can do amazing things. Unfortunately, there is a limit on how far they could go without making a device only they could use. By this time, almost everyone has a small amount of Magi blood, so limited "Supertech" (as it was called) can be used by anyone. But the most advanced of the supertech can only be used by those with high Tesla Indices. 1967 to 1976 - The Second Heroic Age. Great numbers of Sports are born during and after WWII, owing to the Owens Effect (which is what scientists called the tendency of the Magene to manifest when the parents wished for the ability to do superhuman things). Some of these Sports have high enough Tesla Indices to manifest superpowers, but most rely on various forms of supertech, like Powersuits and miracle serums. A peculiar quirk resulting from the Owens Effect being triggered by superheroes led to the fact that most of these Sports have fixed powers, instead of the regular ability of Partbloods to perform magic. In fact, most of those with full powers have abilities *almost* within the range of science to explain. During this era, the term Pseudoscience moves out of the realm of insults and becomes the semiofficial term for the study of phenomena like supertech and magic as they affect the Natural Order. For more details, see http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH/SecondAge 1976 to 1986 - A dearth of Sports is caused by the desire for "normalcy" inherent in the 1950's. Many heroes of the Second Age retire or die as the result of either combat or the side effects of their own powers. The field of Pseudoscience becomes formalized as Violation Physics, and the rules governing it become almost as well understood as those of regular Physics. The Five Clastics are "rediscovered" and applied to Supertech. "Straight" scientists are careful to not let Tesla effects enter their experiments and certain individuals are found who have negative Tesla Indices and act as "Anchors" for the physical laws. These Anchors are often employed by major labs to hang around and keep things normal. Supermarket tabloids stick to gossip, since the paranormal is real. 1986 to 1997 - The children of the 70's come of age, and among them are some of the most powerful Sports ever seen. Many of them have the potential to use real magic in addition to whatever unique powers they have. Several Purebloods begin to interfere with Earth again, notably the Presence and the demon Naobata. Other Purebloods who had been worshipped as gods sent portions of their essence back to Earth to power Avatars and seek new worshippers, such as Set (who powered both the hero Set and the villain Sutekh) and Odin (who powered Valkyrie back in the Second Era). A partial list of characters can be found at http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH/ThirdAge 1997 - The "Godmarket" opens, as it is colloquially called. Various demons and godlings make major pushes for worshippers, using everything from the miraculous (Ethopia suddenly becomes a garden paradise, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus vanishes in an instant) to the hopelessly mundane (one demon buys souls via telemarketing). Mystics begin to suspect Something Big is about to happen. 1998, July 6 - The Causality Wars bleed over into modern times, apparently the "Something Big" that the mystics had been predicting. Millions upon millions die as their chosen gods drain them of lifeforce to power themselves in combat with other Magi. Entire Third-World countries, more susceptible to the lure of the Godmarket than more cynical developed nations, are nearly depopulated overnight. Only a desperate gambit led by the world's most powerful mages, both good and evil, saves the world from total destruction as godlings start taking energy from even those not worshipping them. However, the cost of this salvation is high: every single person on Earth with even a hint of the Magene disappears from the very fabric of reality. 1998-2000 - The world economy, overly dependent on supertech and those who make it, nearly collapses. Many people blame Supernaturals for the carnage, not knowing they were the saviors, and a powerful Owens Effect kicks in to reduce the number of superhumans born. However, an equally powerful need for heroes and the supernormal drives an opposite effect. As a result, for the next decade, nearly all children born will be either totally normal or very powerful, with little grey area in between. Also, as a result of the Godmarket being correctly blamed for part of the troubles, there is a resurgence in fundamentalist versions of the monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, etc). The world population in 2000 is estimated to be 2 billion. 2001-2010 - The world recovers, in part because no government remaining is willing to take strong action against the Pranir smugglers, traders from elsewhere in the galaxy. Internal turmoil in the Planetary Confederation also helps the Pranir gain access to Terran markets. Non-supertech technology advances in leaps and bounds, but unevenly. The former main supplier of illicit supertech, the nation of Khadam, recovers from their massive losses (76% of the population had the Magene) by becoming the main port of call for Pranir ships, a sort of interplanetary Hong Kong. Only without the high moral character of that city's opium days. 2011-2017 - As more and more high-powered teenagers start to appear, various governments try to take action to deal with them. The North American Combine (really just Canada and Mexico under U.S. hegemony, but an appearance of equality is maintained) establishes the Academy to train (and some say indoctrinate) these youths. It becomes known colloquially as the Academy of Super-Heroes, after the famed hero group of the late 1980s. Rumors circulate that Khadam is force-growing children to re- establish their supertech markets and some fairly impressive failures are occasionally reported ravaging the Sahara for the short time they survive. China, which gobbled up large areas left vacant by the Causality Wars, remains secretive but denies that any superhumans are being born there. Important dates: August 12, 2013 - the Big One hits Southern California and kills thousands, mostly in urban areas. Los Angeles becomes known as Lost Angeles and never really recovers. March 15, 2014 - Doctor Developer is conducting salvage in SoCal and rescues the children who will grow up to form The Reverse Engineers team. July 6, 2014 - The Academy is officially opened on the site of the former Northwoods Correctional Institute in Wisconsin Sector. Classes start a month and a half later. December 12, 2014 - the first Academy student dies of what comes to be known as neurological overload syndrome, or Burnout. 2018 - The United World body is established, replacing the United Nations. It has no more power (some say less) than the UN had, but is more powerful in two important areas: Extraterrestrial (including extradimensional) sanctions, and the Net (which some wags point out is almost extra- dimensional anyway). Worldwide standards for computer commerce are established, and on paper, steps are taken to halt Pranir smuggling. Of course, in reality, the Pranir barely break stride. 2018-2022 - The first college-level class of students at the Academy passes through training. Most are directed into scientific or psionics fields, where they will do their graduate studies. But a select few are deemed more useful as field operatives. Superheroes. Continued in SECTION TWO: 2022