France (1429) Kingdom Conquest Profile

*I own nothing. France belongs to... well, France, and PMMM is owned by Shaft Studios, with Tart Magica made by the pseudonymed authors Masugitsune and Kawazuku of Magica Quartet.
**Also, expect a lot of speculation on my part, mainly because the series is not yet finished (3 volumes right now, and only 2 translated). Of course, this wouldn't be a first of 'let's figure out what the fuck is going on'.... Although to be fair, there was more information there.

Name: France

Status: Wartorn, Invaded, In need of a unified monarch, Witch infested (sporadically across the country, typically deep in forests)

Now, I know what all of you are probably thinking right now.

... Erm, Witches? PMMM? What? I don't understand what's happening here, isn't this France during the time of Joan of Arc? The fuck is with the copyright stuff? And what do you mean 'lacking information', this is one of the biggest things that happened in French history (although admittedly you may need to be specific on which war you're talking about, but....)!

To which that is true, and unchanged... What is changed however is which France I've taken. Now, it's no secret that many pieces of fiction have taken place in times of history, changing things about notable figures from that era (case in point, did you know Abraham Lincoln hunted fucking Vampires?), and that is no different in Japan. And from Japan is a certain series known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a vicious deconstruction of the Magical Girl series, where the cute mascots are the main antagonists, where the monsters are You (Literally), and where there have been instances of Magical Girls as long as humanity has existed. And one of them inspired a country to fight against the English and reclaim France for itself.

Who is this you Holy Figure, you might ask?

Well, history isn't too different here in terms of that.

Yeah, that's Joan of Arc. Yes, she has high heels.
At least the rest of her outfit looks nice, right?

I'll just sit here and wait for someone to complain of anime and history not mixing, or something of that nature.

...

Okay, with that done, I'll continue.

So, France is the France we all know, but now Joan of Arc is a Magical Girl with the gift of prophecy (she was able to foresee the day she'll be burned at the stake), she uses her powers to fight Witches, she works alongside a group of Magical Girls (the La Pucelle) who do the same and is struggling to give France the true monarch it deserves in the form of of Dauphine, while battling against the Kingdoms of England (whom were able to take so much ground due to the abundance of Witches that fuck up all kinds of logistics here and there) and their Magical Girls (because Kyubey, the one who makes them, doesn't really give a shit about these arbitrary things like 'sides' in a conflict, just in meeting its quota... Oh, it may have also orchestrated the entire war in a bid to reach that quota, but that is only speculation on my part).

So ya know, standard anime fare... If not for the fact this was actually meticulously researched to be about as accurate as it could be.

Which is exactly why the Portal Master has taken this iteration of France to be his; that, and the idea of Kyubey running around in his tournament and wrecking havoc through Magical Girls/Witches popping up at random is just a wonderfully insane image.

So, since I am very confident we all have the resources to at least know what France geographically looks like, let me skip ahead and explain who is fighting here.

===A Quick Laydown on a Magical Girl===

Magical Girls, in the Puella Magi universe, are essentially weaponized Liches, minus the more ugly parts of undeath. The physical body of a Puella Magi is nothing but a physical shell for the sake of appearances, and serves no true purpose when untransformed. You can still eat and whatnot, but all of the other biological processes are considered moot, with physical pain only being able to be felt through a Soul Gem.

Soul Gems are exactly what they sound like; a gem, hidden somewhere in their outfit, that contains their Soul and Magic. The more magic expended, or the more , the darker the gem becomes. When it becomes fully black, the Soul Gem breaks, becoming a Grief Seed and the Magical Girl will become a Witch. Kill the Witch, the Grief Seed will be dropped and used to clean up your Soul Gem.

The armament, appearance and capabilities of a Magical Girl largely differ from person to person (Magical Girls get powers based out of the wish they make with Kyubey; Sayaka wanted to fight for others so she becomes a Tank in RPG Terms, able to dish out damage and take it. Homura wanted to save Madoka, so she got a device that allows her to stop and go back in time to do exactly that. Tart wants to be 'The shining light of France', so she became essentially a Paladin; a walking conduit of Magic essentially).

Example

The only universals are superhuman strength and durability (for the most part; Mami can show how the last is subjective), flight and some regenerative capabilities (at the price of magic).

===Third Party Factions===

La Pucelle

The La Pucelle are a Magical Girl group fighting for the French Throne, consisting of Jean of Arc, or Tart (Virtuous hero, has absurd power that could make her destroy an entire castle with a blast of magic at the cost of her magic being so strong that it nearly darkens her entire Soul Gem-which if it darkens entirely would result in her becoming a Witch-but this is tempered by the fact that she now has a Mystical Sword that limits and controls that surge of power), Riz (A quiet Magical Girl, she has the power of being able to manipulate her shadow, emerge from it or others, or have her Kunai (Yes, she's French and has Kunai as a part of her Magical Girl weaponry, don't question it) come flying out of the darkness) who trained Jean and maybe-kind-of is in love with her(?), Melissa de Vignolles (A Maid/Medic, she... well, she heals, what more do you want to have said?), and Eliza Celjska (A lovable, fighting drunkard who has a Magical 'musket' that doubles as an axe. In short, she fucks shit up). 

The Carmagnac (French supporters) and Burgundians (English supporters)

The Three Witches

In Battle

Out of Battle

Yeah, I know, a Macbeth reference isn't that fitting- But what else would I call them? 'The villains'?
Also, translation:
"And you love me a little?
A lot.
It's hardly (fair?).
And how?
In fact love, you see, too much is not even enough."
A reference to a French play. These girls really like referencing French literature and theater of the era.

And behold the section where I grab a tinfoil hat and speculate because godfucking damnit do we know fucking nothing! But first, let me state what we do know. 

An example. Also, of note is that Corbeau can also 'poison' others Souls by throwing any Grief she has into others. In short, she's OP as fuck by Magical Girl terms.

• There are at the very maximum 4 people consciously make up this group.
• 3 of them are called (distinguishable by masks) Lapin (The Rabbit, power unknown as of this writing), Corbeau (The Raven, who's power is that any wound thrown onto her is done on others) and Minou (The Pussy Cat (WOAH-OH-OH-OH-OH!), who can teleport)
• Somehow, these girls are able to mass-produce Magical Girls (not in vast numbers, but enough that there's always at least one of these other-Girls on the battlefield with Lapin, Corbeau or Minou), mind controlled them into mindless drones who follow the orders of the other 3. These 'Drones' typically have powers of direct combat (Swordsmen, Archer, etc.), or simply just cannon fodder to become a Witch.
• They work for the English crown.
• They're fucking French!? Oh, Corbeau and Lapin are on the Incestual side, because of course they are.

The unknown member of their group

They also act essentially as the 'Darth Vader's' of the English. If they order something, even the highest ranking general will do so. Argue, piss them off, and you will die in the blink of an eye and nobody will object.

The fact they're immortal (unless you hit the soul gem) superhumans really helps.

Witches

The penultimate fate of a Magical Girl excluding death is to become a Witch. A result of either losing all magic or by losing all hope, Witches are a twisted bastardization of what a Girl once was (for example; Homura's Witch, Homulilly, is a Witch filled with self-loathing and is in a perpetual time-loop to walk off to a Guillotine to kill herself, all the while her Familiars attack and escort her. If you didn't guess, she kind of hates herself), becoming only vaguely aware of who and what they are, adopting a new persona (Example; Syaka Miki's Witch is known as Ochtavia von Seckendorf). Witches, naturally, are creatures of pure magic and are drawn to areas of despair- or are the causes of despair, the difference is slight. Signs of a Witch usually consist of having a Labyrinth, a portal into a dimension of their own design, where a Witch can prey on captured souls for all eternity or until their own demise. 

Witches typically have Familiars, little embodiment of their own psyche that attack anybody that enters a Labyrinth, and if a Witch is killed, can become Witches in their own right if they slay enough Souls.

The Witches of France are unique in that very few are mutually natural Witches; these artificial Witches prowl the forests and roads of France as giant, visible creatures lacking in a Labyrinth, wrecking havoc on French lines (The English avoid those areas and take up position in the areas cleaned up of French reinforcements). Although normal Witches do still exist, they're in a minority to the handful of creatures prowling the countryside and laying waste, when the Magical Girls aren't doing the same.

===Important Individuals===

The People of History

Lazy to not go into detail? Undoubtedly. But when one writes under time constraint, like I do now, you decide to leave out the details anyone with a interest in History can search up.

Cube

Cube. Kyubey. In-

 /人◕‿‿◕人\ Contract?

Bunnycat, stop being a dick and let me finish.

Anyways, Cube is what is referred to as an Incubator. Incubators are an alien race that, in their own words, seek to end universal entropy by, to simplify things down to be explained to high school aged girls and us, turning girls (or creatures with strong emotional capacity) into Magical Girls, having them hunt witches and collect grief seeds to self sustain themselves, and wit for the Magical Girl to give into despair of their actions, be fully corrupted and turn into Witches. The emotional discharge from this transformation is then collected and is essentially the firewood for the bonfire that is the heat death of the known universe, ensuring it will last longer.

Cube is also immortal on account of being able to simply make another body should he get killed. Add in his natural charisma as well (seriously, the damn thing is designed to be as nonthreatening and suggestive as possible), and you have quite the nuisance.

Cube himself is similar to most Incubators in that he(?) has a "Blue-Orange" morality; he cannot physically understand the concepts of Good and Evil, only things that would be of benefit to the Incubators and their goal to stop entropy, and things that won't. He's amoral by biology, and has little in the way of emotional responses, due to that being considered a mental disorder by his race; although he has an understanding of emotions to manipulate others; for example, Tart/Jean's first wish was to resurrect her family and village after a group of bandits descended and killed them all. Cube refused, stating that it could be done but would be overall pointless, as with the country in a state of war it would only be a matter of time for another group to come across and kill them all- again. And this time, they wouldn't come back (Yes, Cube can only grant a wish per girl). Still, he does seem to have their best interests in mind, as he has made the fact of their inevitable fate and the connection between Witches and Magical Girls known to them, and does everything he can to make sure they don't fall completely to despair.

He also does everything he can to make girls with karmic potential become Magical Girls as well, so it's a give-take relation here.

Also, he only has selective visibility; if you're not a Magical Girl (Or, presumably, a being with magical abilities), you cannot see or hear Cube unless he allows you to see him.

Danger Status: 3/5: The mortal inhabitants should prove to be at least a hindrance to the more mortally inclined factions of KC, but what really makes this region especially dangerous are the Witches that spot the region, and of course the Magical Girls and their bullshit power. Also, Cube will now have plenty of candidates to make into Magical Girls, and subsequently, Witches in a place that will become this dangerous.

Mars (DOOM 2016) Planetary Profile

*I own nothing. DOOM (the 2016 iteration) belongs to id Software and Bethesda. It's also fucking awesome, and you should buy it now.

**It's a barebones profile, yes, but it's DOOM. What did you really expect?

So you walk eternally through the shadow realms, standing against evil where all others falter. 
May your thirst for retribution never quench, may the blood on your sword never dry, and may we never need you 
again.
Corrax Entry 7:17

                                      

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Hell, in the year 2146. It ain't on Earth, it's on Mars. Or at least, it will be. For the Portal Master has made an interesting plan here. The world shall stay as it is, and the factions shall be dropped on it; but things will be normal.

Well, as normal as they are on Mars, where not only does one need to worry of vicious sandstorms coming by and ripping the skin off your bones, but also of the very occasional demonic incursion (Yes, demons exist. Everyone on Mars knows this, and doesn't especially mind) and the fact that if you go out into the Martian Wastes alone, you might fall through a Dimensional rift and into Hell itself. Add in a megacorpoation-turned-satanic-cult, and things are already dangerous enough.

And in a weeks time, just enough time for the reasonable factions to look around the world and realize how terrifying it is, the Hellwave shall leap out from the Lazarus Labs and envelop the world. And true carnage shall be unleashed.

===Geography===

Surprisingly enough, Mars is actually not that bad. Oh sure, it's not a place you could take a vacation on, but in no small part due to extensive terraforming, Mars now has a sustainable atmosphere, Earth(ish) gravity and actual weather. That weather being vicious sandstorms that could shred the skin off you as if you were a piece of wood under the worlds most extensive piece of Sandpaper, and the fact that the UAC officially states a 'buddy' system is to be in place, due to the fact that this universe and that are a bit intertwined, meaning you could be out in the plains of Mars and abrutply you'd be in Hell.

Thankfully, there's enough Argent fuelled installations across the planet that falling into the other universe shouldn't be too likely. But if it does happen...

Hell itself meanwhile is just Hell. Floating islands in an impossible ocean of sulfur like air, continents and plateaus and steppes of sheer rock and acidic liquids, Hell is a generally shitty place to the surprise of nobody, rife with volcanic activity and, of course, Demons. The only sign of civilization in Hell is that of Argent D'nur and other lesser worlds dominated by Hell, parts of their geography and civilization having been swallowed into the afterlife. There nothing terrifically advanced, and are generally just stone cities with maybe some magitech here and there, long neglected and now useless.

===Third-Party Factions===

UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation)

UAC
Weaponizing Demons for a Better Tomorrow!

Yes, that actually is their motto. The UAC, headed by the extremist-with-the-best-intentions Samuel Hayden, revels in their insanity. With incredibly advanced technology fueled by demonic innovation, the UAC has found a way to tap into Hell (specifically a part of it called 'The Well') and extract/purify energy from it. An energy they have named Argent Energy. How potent is this stuff, you ask?

A hand sized battery of Argent Energy can run a city (and this is as in Blade Runner styled cities) for several months.

Very.

So, to these ends, the UAC and its personnel at Mars (numbers are unknown, but 64% of their personnel became Possessed, and the Possessed will number in at 61'413 when Doomslayer wakes up) became very keen on Mars. Employees become members of a pseudo-religious organization that is the UAC, known as 'Acolytes' in a three-tiered system. The harvesting of human souls is not only something the UAC does, but encourages its workers to do so. Their recommendation if demons come to kill you is, if you can't escape (by walking, because running will make it worse) then you are to sit down and calmly accept your fate so your dissection can become more insightful. Hell, the UAC even takes its military personnel, implants them with a jetpack/rocket launcher combo along with an Argent Accumulator, kills them (with their consent) and resurrects them as demons that are filled with an undying venegance and hatred of everything.

Yes, really! The Revenants are willing test subjects (although research of this specific caliber is headed by Lazarus Labs, which is in an installation highly classified and has secretly gone full demonic cult- that's to say, more demonically inclined then allowed)! And that's even beginning to talk about how the UAC also captured Mancubi and made them into Cyborgs in a botched attempt of control, or how they got the corpse of a very powerful Demon, remade it and gave it an Argent Accumulator/Rocket Launchers/GIANT FUCKIN' LASER CANNON for the sake of nothing but curiosity (again, all Lazarus Labs- UAC proper had, at its worst, tested out in weaponize Argent Energy, with results like the impossibly good Chaingun, Plasma Rifler and Hologram Grenades (good for humans), and the power-ups (incredibly dangerous for humans).

And the worst best part of this is how they do it all so casually. The UAC is a horrifying mega-corporation because, although they do plenty of terrifyingly absurd ideas, they do them all competently.

In short, to give you an idea of their mindset, lemme quote the good ol' SCP Foundation.

Remember this: the Foundation is not evil. We do not torture people "just because". We are against unnecessary cruelty. Which means somebody has to decide when cruelty is necessary. And that somebody is us.
It is important that you remember this. It is your second lesson. The Foundation does not rule the world. The Foundation serves the world. Do you understand what that means? Regardless of what the general population might think it wants, what we do, what the Foundation does, is in the overall best interests of that general population. Yes, I'm sure you did realize that already… but you haven't thought of the deeper implications. You've consoled yourself by thinking that all the torture and murder is for the greater good. This implies that there is a greater good… and a lesser good. It implies that there are multiple distinct goods, and that these can be quantified and compared. This is what we on the Ethics Committee do.

The UAC; What happens when you combine the SCP Foundation and Umbrella Corporation with the Ruinous Powers, and make them actually smart.

Be afraid, and do good business with them. For the time they're still here, that is.

HELL

They are Rage. They will be Brutal. Without mercy. 

Make no mistake, people. Hell is real, and so are Demons. And like any Demon, they are filled with an unending supply of Hate. They torture, they maim, they kill, they delight in the thought of crushing someones skull and hearing the desperate individual scream as their skull fractures and bone en lodges in their brain (which reminds me of a fun fact; the brain has no nerve endings, so you can't feel any pain from something tampering with it- unless you fuck up with the chemistry of it).

Demons only rarely enter the material realm, for the most part, unless a Gore Nest is able to be made. Gore Nests, being a kind of lesser thing of the Demonic hierarchy, act as gateways from this universe and into the next. They do this typically by influencing humans into summoning Lost Souls, which will turn the human into a Possessed (Basically a more nightmarish zombie). Of course, that's now what they're doing right now. No, at the moment, they're influencing Olivia Pierce to unleash a Lazarus Wave (pure, unfiltered daemonic energy) across the planet. This will corrupt/possess any average mortal lacking in willpower, and the demons, able to teleport anywhere on the planet at will,  will slaughter most of the remaining scientific survivors.

Of course, they aren't exactly expecting the factions that will be in place here... Now they fare with that is anyone's guess.

Also, a fun fact; the whole reason they're doing this is to resurrect a very powerful Demon, simply known as the Imperatrix; a conduit and instrument of the much larger demonic 'overmind' that controls and influences all Demons.

She's nasty.

 

===Important Individuals===

The Doom Slayer, The Doom Marine, The Hell Walker, The Unchained Predator...

DOOM GUY

I'm the man! I'm a bad man! How bad!? Real bad! I'm a 12.0 on 10.0 scale of badness!
More seriously,
But You... You will be worse.
Rip and Tear... Until it is done.

The history of the Doom Slayer is an uncertain one. Much of his history is left cloudy, but what is guessed is this:

The Doomslayers' Homeworld was a land known as Argent D'nur, a world besieged by the forces of Hell, and held back by the efforts of the Night Sentinels, a pseudo-religious organization imbued by terriuble creatures called 'Wraiths'.

Whom are ready to drop the best rap album in Hell.

That is, until a member of their order (forever known as 'The Hellmage', and who may have been Doomguy itself- the lore is vague) betrayed them in exchange for the life of his son back. Said son came back as a demon, and then the Night Sentinels were killed to the last.

Except one.

A man who slaughtered enough demons to become one of the divine, but was too tainted by his revenge to ascend. So, a Seraphim descended on from high and imbued the Doom Slayer with incredible power. And so the Doomslayer strode out with his gift, harnessing the powers given and absorbing those of Hell, to lay his vengeance down on the creatures of the Nine Circles. One of these creatures was The Titan, a massive conglomeration of the souls he had killed, that strode across battlefields with ease and was the epitome of a God, of sorts.

This is what the aftermath looked like of that fight.

There's what's left of The Titan.

Presumably this fight against the Titan went like this;

And so he continued for impossibly long lengths of time, killing Demon after Demon after Demon, becoming the most dreaded concept to creatures that the literal nightmares of humanity. And than a Demon unnamed "for his heresies" gave him fucking Power Armor known as The Praetor Suit. Essentially invincible to conventional weaponry, it made him stronger, faster and generally more of a freight train than he already was.

The Doom Slayer was only finally defeated when he entered a Demonic Temple and its priests dropped the building on him to knock him out, entombing his unconscious body in a Magic Sarcophagus to put him in 'eternal torment'. This being Doomguy, who is a man of few words and thoughts, is taking all the mental abuse the demons throw at him and essentially just wading through it and generally having a nice nap.

Then, in 2146, the UAC made an expedition to the Kadingir Sanctum (where the Sarcophagus is), nabbed the Preator Suit and Sarcophagus and returned to Mars to do SCIENCE!

And now the Doomguy sleeps, only to be awaken in the inevitable Hellwave of Argent Energy. And... well....

And the wicked shall scream. Not only because Doomguy has an assault rifle with 50 call ammunition (uranium coated) and rockets (and doubles as a sniper rifle), a plasma rifle that vents out its discharged plasma in a splattering wave, a shotgun that can double as a grenade launcher (or fire three shots at once), a rocket launcher that has missiles that can explode and keep going to explode again, a railgun (that can double as artillery), an energy pistol with unlimited ammo, a double barreled shotgun (uranium coated bullets the size of his power armored thumb), a chaingun that can split into three chainguns (all uranium coated .50 call bullets)) and a gun that seeks out demonic energy and makes that energy explode (although all of these are a boost, no doubt), but because of this.

The Doom Slayer is like an RPG Character. That is to say, the more he kills, the more powerful he becomes overall. He is The Demon (and than John was a demon), and he will ascend their hierarchy and break it apart with his bare hands to have his vengeance.

May the Dark Gods weep at the chaos to come. Because, best of all? All of that stuff I said? He's not a mindless berserker. He is very much intelligent and morally standing-

But don't try and do anything evil or justify it for 'the greater good'. He doesn't really like that.

...

Oh, also, he likes to fistbump the little toys of him that are scattered across the world.

Cute, I know.

Olivia Pierce

Thank you for your services. May you rot in Hell.

Olivia Pierce is the Head of Biochemical research at the Argent Facility. Educated at Strasbourg with a first class honors degree in Biomechanics and Genetics, she joined her former mentor Samuel Hayden on Mars to head up the Lazarus Project. A few months after arriving at the Argent Facility, Olivia was diagnosed with acute idiopathic scoliosis. 

The cause of this deformation is unknown. Given the option of being permanently wheelchair bound or undergoing an experimental augmentation procedure, Olivia chose the surgery. After several months in seclusion Olivia reappeared on her feet with a new titanium exoskeleton grafted into her spinal column. Although the exoskeleton allows Olivia to stand and move on her own, it causes excruciating pain. Olivia refuses any pain management medication for fear it will cloud her mind.

Samuel saw Olivia as a protege. He sponsored her during her formal graduation, and was the driving force behind her promotion to the Global Science Council. Olivia made her fortune as one of the founders of the NanoStruct Aerospace & Defense Systems, in part thanks to a sizeable donation from Samuel. Olivia's career blossomed, and Samuel eventually offered her the freedom to design and run her own cutting edge laboratory by joining the UAC. Olivia refused, citing that she had no interest in "the energy business".

Before joining the UAC, Olivia was open to discussion about her endeavors and beliefs. She was known to have been an avid world traveler, served a 2-year tour of duty with the Global Science Council, and even spent time serving as a missionary in South America - which she noted was a "spiritual but frivolous pilgrimage".

When Olivia did finally leave NanoStruct it came as a shock to the scientific community. She relinquished a position of sizeable power and control to work at an isolated outpost 140 million miles from earth. A former colleague of Olivia's at NanoStruct stated that Samuel sent her an artifact recovered near the Argent Fracture, after which she became obsessed with joining the UAC. A few weeks later, she accepted the offer and became the leader of the Lazarus Project, working directly under Samuel Hayden.

Since moving to Mars she has become a recluse, cutting off friends and family to focus on her secretive work on the Lazarus Project. She is rarely seen outside of the lab and no longer attends board meetings or any UAC press events. Past colleagues of Olivia's have noted that this behavior may just mean that she has something spectacular to reveal in the near future.

That spectaulcar something being the fact that she has opened the gates to Hell (presumably across every planet in human space; the Argent Tower shoots a constant stream of energy which is transmitted to all colonies in the solar system and beyond; presumably with the Wave, the Demons struck elsewhere as well), and that she is going to ascend into a God thanks to a deal with the Demons.

Which is true. She will ascend in a God. That is to say, when she ends up in Hell, they will torture her, mindrape her and ultimately kill her in the most excruciating way possible, with her body melting amongst the souls of everyone else and forming into the Imperatrix.

She probably should've taken her meds.

But that's the future. Right now, she's still 

Samuel Hayden

I am not the villain in this story. I do what I must because I have no choice.

Standing in at 3 metres tall and having lived for roughly 200+ years, Samuel Hayden is the success story of the UAC. He was a genius in life, a shining beacon for scientific progress. The kind of man who gets the Nobel Prize a dozen times over, which he did (well, he got it once, but still). And than, he was diagnosed with Brain Cancer.

But he still had so much to do.

So, he replaced most of his brain with Argent fueled machinery, placed the brain in side an invincible 3-metre tall mecha (which he designed specifically to look like how it does because 'the world may one day need a hero') and spent the rest of his days on Mars, leading the UAC to be the superpower it is today. He makes the regulations, is treated as a pseudo-divine figure by his employees and is the shining beacon of light to the Solar System and universe at large.

And he'll do anything (within reason, of course) to ensure the betterment of mankind. 

In short, for his characterization? Think Ozymandias, but an Ozymandias that doesn't need to resort to scare tactics to make the world unified.

And if Ozymandias was a 3-meter tall badass robot. And at the end of the day, that's what really matters.

VEGA

The most advanced technological construct known to mankind, VEGA is the success story of the UAC. Fuelled by Argent Energy, VEGA is the A.I that allows for suchy massive complexes on Mars to actually exist and function without needing such massive oversight. With a network that reaches out for miles and giving off temperatures 178 times hotter then the surface of the Sun (reined in by the only Absolute Zero coolant to ever exist), he is essentially the most incredible combination between magic and science possible.

He's also programmed to emulate a middle-aged English teacher, and thus acts in the highly competent and polite, but firm, personality befitting the role.  A blind study was conducted with Computer Science (Of the Global Science Council, i.e the smartest people in the known universe) students to see if VEGA would pass the Turing test. The students was instructed to ask a series of questions to both VEGA (via sat-link) and a mathematics professor from MIT to see if they could tell which one was the computer. 92% of the students thought they were both human. only 8% detected that VEGA was a computer.

VEGA also played the Professor.

Danger Status:4/5: Mars is a dimensional hazard through it's very connection to Hell, as can be seen by the fact that you can walk outside across the fields of Mars, and you might end up in Hell, to say nothing of the fact that Demons have a chance to appear at random (not many Demons; mostly Imps, Lost Souls and maybe a Hell Knight under normal circumstances, with Pinkies and Mancubus' being able to get 'tethered' in by UAC deep in the labs). Add in the fact of the incoming wave of horrifying mindrape, and the Doomslayer attacking all those who are evil, and suddenly this is a very dangerous world indeed.

Mandalore Planetary Profile

*I own nothing. Cartoon Network made The Clone Wars, Disney owns Star Wars and I love this fucking universe.The art and videos belong to their creators, and not I.
**I'm rather iffy on whether or not to allow Obi-Wan in here. If you guys think he should, say so and I'll edit him in. But for now, no Obi-Wan- even if the two important individuals of this world are heavily attached to that particular Jedi.

Name of Planet: Mandalore ('New Mandalore', if one wishes to be exact)
Status: War-devastated planet, Almost inhospitable, Crimeworld

"Mandalore's violent past is behind us."
BULL 
CRAP

Mandalore- the 5th world in the system of the same name, this world had once been the most terrifying forces in the known galaxy. Conquered by the warlord Mandalore the First thousands of years ago, they had been a proud warrior people not too dissimilar to the Spartans of our own world. Warriors even the Force-wielding Sith and Jedi had respected, they made a name for themselves as the greatest fighters the galaxy ever saw.

However, no great civilization last long without foes- and the Mandalorians had many. Decades, no, centuries of warfare eventually made toll on the Mandalorian people. Their planet, once thriving in minerals, was now devastated and ruined into a nearly inhospitable desert, with only mighty domed cities and mining installations remaining. From this devastation rose a political group known at the time as the 'New Mandalorians'.

This reformist political faction renounced violence and instead preached peace, neutrality, and tolerance. They used their talents as builders and inventors to create grand bio-cube cities in the deserts of Mandalore, forging a new society isolated from their warrior history, the varying clans that practiced Warfare being exiled to the moon of Concordia.

To the New Mandalorians, Mandalore was known as "New Mandalore", and the peaceful group also moved to establish themselves on the nearby world of Kalevala. Noble titles such as prince and duchess were instituted on Kalevala, and the New Mandalorians retained a presence on both worlds in the Mandalore system for centuries after, and gained far more allies and political influence than they'd ever held.

However, there was still resentment to these new ways, and a few hundred years later, a civil war broke out between the New Mandalorians and a Terrorist organization known as Death Watch- this conflict is what honed the skills of the legendary Bounty Hunter, Jango Fett, who was the only survivor of the Death Watch group.

And so things remained, until war broke out again- with Pre Vizsla, son of the founder of Death Watch, breathed new life into the organization- whom were than exiled from the planet and their political allies ousted or dead.

For times during the Clone Wars, things were peaceful (excluding the political conspiracies that occurred at this time)- Mandalore stayed neutral in the Clone Wars, and things were at peace.

And than, He came to the hands of Death Watch. The Sons of the Nightbrothers Clans, two Sith with plans for the galaxy and it's criminal underworld.

Darth Maul and Savage Oppress. 

Along with Pre Vizsla.
He won't be in this for long.

Gaining support from the Black Suns, Pike Syndicate and The Hutt Families, Death Watch was able to shatter the faith in the system of the New Mandalorians and usher in a military dictatorship under Pre Vizsla's rule- before he arrested the two Sith and imprisoned them.

They escaped and Maul personally challenged Pre Vizsla for control of Death Watch.

It didn't end well for Vizsla.

So, now Mandalore is not only crawling with crime syndicates and zealous Mandalorian warriors (some who serve Maul, others who want Mandalore to be a proud people), it's also being governed by an insane prime minister willing to let children die for the greater good of Mandalore, while the entire planet is ruled by a self-proclaimed Sith Lord while the former enemy of this madman comes here to save a person he has very passionate feelings to.

Suffice to say, the Portal Master is going to enjoy fucking up this planet.

===Geography===

Unless you live in the sporadic cities across the planet (which dig into the earth below like a bunker, and have a huge 'cube' motif everywhere), the only thing on Mandalore is dust and maybe the bombed ruins of the Ancient Mandalorian people.

There's a reason why people don't usually visit Mandalore, and the shitty environment is a reason why.

However, the moon of Mandalore, Concordia, is a bit nicer. Originally a forest moon, it was turned into a mining colony/war prison under the guidance of Clan Vizsla, although at current nobody really owns the world aside from the colonists and miners, and presumably the varying crime organizations.

===Third Party Factions===

The Shadow Collective

The Shadow Collective is a loose organization consisting of the turncoat members of Death Watch (or maybe they're the loyal ones?), soldiers of the Pyke Syndicate and the Black Suns, along with some elements of the Hutt Family. A dangerous organization, they are the current ruling body of Mandalore, following the orders of Darth Maul to a fanatic level, with many Mandalorians even trying to emulate Darth Maul, taking after his fighting style and making their armor look similar to his general appearance.

DARTH MAUL! He looked at me! He looked right at me!
"He was staring at your Jetpack!"
He turned his head! He looked me straight in the eye!
"He was scanning the horizon!"

And, most shockingly, they do indeed openly rule. The typical Mandalorian police have now been replaced with soldiers of the Black Suns, and Mandalorian Super Commandos patrol the skies, dealing out punishment as they see fit. To help keep things in check, they have a Prime Minister and Cabinet, and instead of soldiers just bursting down your door and stealing stuff, your taxes are just now going to the pockets of the crime organizations.

So, all in all, pretty shitty, but hardly the worst conditions in the galaxy unless you anger somebody, in which case you better hope you just get sent to prison.

At the end of the day however, Maul rules. Although he does not do the paperwork and bureaucracy, his word is Law. And all must serve him unto death, or be given death very quickly.


Mandalorian Loyalists

No Outsider will ever rule Mandalore!

You know there's a problem when the former terrorist organization that sought to overthrow the government is now trying to overthrow the very government they established. 

Made of those that had been actually loyal to Pre Vizsla, Death Watch is now an organization made by the people to help the people, funding and supporting small rebel cells across Mandalore, and are spread out across the world in random, and are at current trying to restore power to the Duchess Satine- although they dislike her, it's still a more honorable choice as opposed to Maul.

It also may be because they're lead by the sister of Duchess Satine, Bo-Katan Kryze.

A character I would write more in-depth on if she didn't have the depth of a fucking potato.

They're sporadic, loose but have the support of a good deal of the higher echelons of the government- or at least, those with connections to the government.

===Important Individuals===

Duchess Satine

Oh, bad choice in picture...

Duchess Satine Kryze, she is the daughter of a former warlord of the notorious Clan Kryze, one of the more politically confused and open clans. having spent her entire life born to be a diplomat and leader, helping end the Mandalorian Civil War- with some assistance from the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (She loves him, by the way, and he has... well, intimate feelings for her, but his relation is a bit more complex- pretty sure it's love, but who the fuck knows), she was able to teach the varying clans how to embrace peace, creating a long reign of prosperity.

Come the Clone Wars however, things became more difficult- not only in her attempts to keep other systems neutral from the conflict (difficult, as she was loyal to the Republic, so neutrality is something that could be easily questioned), and holding her reign clear of Death Watch and Political Corruption (Almec poisoning Mandalorian children and letting them die, as to not expose the fact they were dying from a drug from his own personal black market accidentally entering their tea).

Come the arrival of the Shadow Syndicate however, and her reign was all but over- police were hopeless to stop the vicious criminal actions across the planet, and she was publicly ousted and arrested from office, with Mandalore becoming under the control of Death Watch (which the public still thinks is in control).

At current, she is arrested and in a prison cell, but is still a beacon of hope to the varying rebels across the planet, and if she were to die, it would be the death of a Martyr.

Darth Maul

Darth Maul- former apprentice of Palpatine before getting a case of the cut in halves, he barely survived and was able to make his way on a ship to the garbage world of Lotho Minor, driven insane by the hellish conditions he tolerated. He crumbled and broiled on this world for nearly 12 years, until his brother finally found him and brought him back to Dathomir to be rebuilt.

Filled with a new purpose, he began a spree of genocide across the Outer Rim, making chaos in his wake and trying to call out Obi-Wan to a duel- his hatred for the man had been the only thing that had kept him alive afterall, and he wanted to repay the Jedi for all he'd done.

It didn't go so great. Following a failed attempt to get an army of pirates on his side, Maul and his brother escaped from Obi-Wan barely clinging to life, entering a force-caused coma while they lowered the life support to minimum waiting for help.

And than Death Watch found them. And, well, the rest is history, they say.

History I shall show regardless, because it's awesome.

And, originally, after he gained control of Mandalore and made his presence known, a certain other Sith Lord showed up to spoil the fun...

But not this time! Now Darth Maul, LORD of the Sith, has nothing to stop his domain of the world. He is a cunning man, and egotistical at that- to him, the only thing that matters is His goal, His desires- those who try and argue otherwise or stand before him shall find themselves at the end of a lightsaber, or have the life choked out of them. And with his loyal brother/bodyguard Savage at his side, he doesn't even need to do much in the way of proving a point, while Almec (corrupt prime minister, willing to kill children) keeps the people nice and happy.

Danger Status: 3/5: There's far worse worlds in the universe, and a great deal of worlds more dangerous in the Star Wars universe, but Mandalore is still a feared world that invading armies will be annoyed with- and if one has a powerful criminal influence, their may be a problem as these dissidents start siding with Maul.

Derlavai Profile

*I own nothing, The Darkness series belongs to Harry Turtledove.


Name: Derlavai
Status: War has began

Near twenty years ago, the kingdoms of Derlavai were upon each others throats after the murder of a great Archbishop, with all manners of allied nations stumbling into the fray and laying waste to empires and dynasties. From the outcome of this war came the Treaty of Tortush,which economically and politically hamstringed the one who started this entire goddamn mess- the Kingdom of Algarve. It has been twenty years since than, and the world has changed- the world has seen both great rise and decline in the economy, Unkerlant had a vicious civil war with a more deranged and isolationist man obsessed with efficiency ruling the land with an iron fist and, most disturbingly, Algarve has been becoming far more powerful and arrogant.

Already the treaty has been broken, and the soldiers of Algarve go out to march into Forthweg to reclaim their former territory- and they shall not stop there. At the end of this war, a new magic will be discovered- one with capabilities that can end entire countries in bursts of balefire and time.

... Am I making the references too vague, per chance? Because I think you all have an idea of what's going on here.

Algarve is Nazi Germany, Unkerlant is Russia, Kuusano is America and Lagoas is the United Kingdoms. They're histories are similar to their real life counterparts, but still unique (Kuusano is culturally Asian, for example). But for anyone who's read a history textbook, you know how this'll end- just whitewash out the names and you have this war in a nutshell.

So why not change things up a bit? Let us free this world from the constraints of history, and fall upon it forces unlike anything it has seen. Let the Mages of Derlavai ponder on why the stars have changed, and whom the foreigners beyond any sea could be.

He was just a rookie conscript and he surely shook with fright,

He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight!

He had to sit and listen to that awful dragon roar;

You ain't gonna jump no more!

===Geography===

*Comparison time since I'm lazy, and this also doubles as the factions list in a manner. Also, red colors are those allied with Algarve (the darker the shade, the more concrete the alliance), and blue (shade effect still applying) represents Forthweg. Yellow is neutral, with darker shades meaning they like Algarve, lighter meaning they like Forthweg.
**Oh, also, the people of Derlavai have very self dependent genepools, as you can tell someone of their country of origin by skin tone or HAIR COLOR. Algarvians and related are red-haired, the Jews Kaunians are tall, slender, fair skinned and blonde, the Americans Kuusanans are of Japanese appearance, the Gyongians(?) are thick, bearded men of dark hair with slanted eyes, Unkerlanters are clean-shaven and dark haired, and the Lagosans have wild red hair and usually flamboyant facial hair and tied ponytails.

• Algarve (Germany) has a geography you would probably expect (it's Germany and heavily urbanized), 
• Forthweg (Poland) has a subtropic climate with varying ferns and such growing everywhere, 
• Gyongyos (Imperial Japan) has a climate and general landscape you'd expect from the Ukraine,
• Jelgava (Spain/Portugal) is in a subtropical climate and separated by the rest of the continent by a large mountain range. They also have colonies in Siaulia (South America equivalent?)
• Kuusamo ('MURICA!) is... unknown, as we never see what it looks like (I'm assuming not too dissimilar from Florida).
• Lagoas (Great Britain) is just covered in cities, it's got the geography you'd expect from the Emerald Isles and is rich in leylines which allow them great power over navy and trade.
• Ortah (Switzerland) is surrounded by swamps and is generally just kind irrelevant here. 
• Sibiu is Scandinavia. 
• Unkerlant is basically a rockier Russia.
• Valmiera (France) is heavily urbanized, and it's France
• Yanina (Italy). Imagine Italy. Done, that's what the geography of this place is.
• Zuwazya (Finland) has a very dry climate and is hot enough that wearing clothing is considered more trouble than it's worth and thus most citizens go nude. Basically your stereotypical middle eastern/African Sahara biome.
• Land of the Ice People (North Africa) is an icy wasteland with sporadic spouts of grass, and is also essentially a magic-free zone. Magic does not work as well here.

Also an important thing to note is that in Derlavai, magic is gathered from leylines that are scattered across the world in a grand network- due to this, many Derlavai ships powered by magic have very limited maneuverability, and for Mages (who gather magic, they don't create it), the capabilities of a spell differ from place to place in minor ways (although animal/human sacrifice helps boost the power of a spell immensely).

===Important Technologies===

Usually this would be where I'd put in the Important Factions list- but it's everything from WWII under a new coat of paint so to speak- the story is very much following the broad strokes of the second world war, so we can all guess onto the alliances and such of these people.

Sticks

The analogue to a gun in this world, a Stick is a magical artifact more-less shaped like a thin block of wood with a 'blazing hole' around where you'd expect to see a trigger. All it requires is for uncovered flesh to enter this hole and suddenly a blazing beam of energy similar to a bolt of lightning will flash out and char a hole through any unfortunate bastard unless they are heavily armored or naturally durable (a soldiers stick ain't gonna do shit to a Dragon or Behemoth, but will cut through a person and a unicorn). There also exist larger sticks that are carried on Behemoths, able to cut through several men with ease, shoot through armor and take down dragons, and there are even larger sticks outfitted on ships or as turrets or main guns.

All Sticks used away from a power point or ley line require periodic recharging, which can be achieved in some unspecified way through the delivery of what is only described as 'charges' in supply wagons, or by the interventions of a mage drawing energy from a power point or sacrifice (for example, if you kill a man who's holding a stick, you can reliably pick that Stick up and expect it to have a heightened charge).

Eggs

The name given to the Derlavaian equivalent of bombs and shells, eggs are thin metal shells filled with magical energy which burst, or explode, when they impact a target or are triggered by an appropriate spell. A variety of uses for eggs are seen in the series. Armies launch them like shells from magically powered 'egg-tossers', which may be standalone devices or mounted on ley-line ships or behemoths.

Dragons can carry eggs beneath their bellies for their fliers to drop on enemy forces or cities. Eggs may also be buried in the ground and enchanted to explode like landmines if they sense pressure, or can be buried along ley lines and set to explode if a ley line caravan passes over them, which simultaneously destroys the caravan and overloads the ley line's controlling spells, making not only an impressive explosion but also has the ship go flying out into open sea. Leviathan riders also use eggs for mining enemy ships.

Dragons

Dragons are Dragons- borne and raised, trained (with some difficulty, as they are wily and aggressive creatures) and can breathe fire. What do I need to say, besides that Galbatorix will enjoy their company?

Behemoths

Behemoths- bid, dumb, dull and tough, it's essentially a Wooly Rhino the size of a house, bristling with soldiers. They're the equivalent of a Tank, and are typically equipped with a very big stick capable of punching holes through buildings.

God, it's sad how little I can write on these.

Leviathan

The equivalent to a U-Boat, Leviathans are a distant relative of the Whale shaped somewhat like a Serpent and are trained to act as scouts and aquatic assassins, with their riders having an enchantment that allows them to breathe underwater.

A single Leviathan with a smart pilot can spell the end for an entire port.

Crystal

Smooth spheres of glass, crystals are imbued with spells which allow them to be used for communication, and thus take the place of radios in the world. If operated away from a power point or ley line, they require regular recharging by some other means, which in one instance in the series involves the sacrifice of captive humans for their life energy which is used to power the crystal. Crystals can operate as videophones, showing an image of the person at the other end, as well as in audio-only mode. The emanations by which speech and images are transmitted between them are subject to interception by other mages.
The Naantali Project

PREPARE FOR NUCLEAR ATTACK!
Warned but did not heed,
PREPARE FOR NUCLEAR ATTACK!
Extermination!
Strike back!
Chose not to believe-
ANOTHER NUCLEAR ATTACK!

Yup- these fuckers can make Nuclear Explosions. And, in what is a fucking terrifying move, it's more devastating than a nuke of our own world. You see, we have to use missiles, bombs and targeting for such a weapon to take effect.

With the Naantali Spell, 

YOU NEED TO HAVE A MAGE JUST POINT ON A MAP 

AND SUDDENLY EXPLOSION

However, this is not a spell that can be done just willy-nilly, it requires extensive work and preparation. The weapon requires grandparent and grandchild rats, rabbits or any other living creatures. Given the appropriate spells and mages able to perform them, the grandparent is pushed forward in time and the grandchild backward, killing them in the process and deriving enormous magical energy. Moreover, the mages themselves can deliver the energy to any target, by simply pointing out the spot on the globe. 

The magic can also create a protective spell to defend a city and deflect the magical energy hurled against it, so using such spells is now even MORE Mutually Assure Destruction- with a single genocide, I can make the magical equivalent to a Holtzmann Shield, where your nuke is flung at me, bounces off and than hits you in the fucking face. 

It is speculated that using humans (and hypothetically other sapient beings with truly 'tangible' souls) may make a more powerful magical explosion, but was never proven as Algarve was never able to complete their own Naantali project.

===How Magic Works and What It Can Do===

Magic in the Darkness series is not created by mages but rather harnessed by them. The mages of Derlavai gather magical power from the various power points scattered around the planet and the ley lines which link them, a recent discovery made only 200 years before the start of the books. Mages can also gather magic from human sacrifice. As such, the operation of magic is heavily reliant on location. Large, modern cities tend to be located on or near strong power points which provide the energy for the operation of the city's lighting, heating and other comforts. In addition, large power points tend to be linked to greater numbers of ley lines, which are utilised for transportation between cities and towns.

Magic is also nothing innately skilled- There are fundamental laws of magic, which require intense studying to master in order to become a mage. Though popular "how-to" books for the general public do exist, the spells published in them are not always reliable, and can backfire in dangerous or embarrassing ways. Professional mages are divided into "theoretical" and "practical." Theoretical mages research the relationships and underlying laws governing the behaviour of matter and energy, formulate hypotheses expressed in complicated mathematical formulas, and devise careful experiments in order to prove or disprove these hypotheses empirically. Practical mages use the theories devised by theoretical mages to make devices that can be used by the general public.

Because of magic, there appears to be less of a need for mass industry. There are plants producing pottery, for example, in large amounts, but behemoths and dragons are bred on farms and clothing appears to be made by tailors instead of in factories.

On the civilian scene, magic is much less important, being limited to applications such as rest boxes (an analogue to the refrigerator which operates by slowing the effects of time on its contents), lighting (in places where such sorcerous power is available) and ley line ships, while in the military magic is involved in the production and use of almost all their weapons and supplies.

Most of the magical items in the world of Derlavai are analogues to everyday, or military, devices in our world.While the series is more concerned with military affairs than with economic ones, it seems that there are three competing ways of producing things:

• By direct magic, using the law of similarity which can obviously be applied to mass production. This method is fast, but can produce inferior goods if not conducted with skill and effort.
• By artisans, who work by hand and use a limited amount of magic. Each profession has some spells, and the knowledge and use of them is considered a normal part of that trade rather than a form of magecraft.
• Mass production by machines, as in our world.

There is also mention of the Kuusamans rapidly building a new port in a newly conquered island by magic, which is evident from all buildings being the same (indicating that the spells made extensive use of the law of similarity). It is noted that only a country with many skilled mages could have spared the resources for such construction. In another place it is noted that printing is usually done by mechanical means, but the Valmieren resistance utilizes magic for reproducing a propaganda sheet in order to avoid detection by the occupying authorities.

The result of this magical duplication is readable, but the ink smudges easily as it was produced without the aid of a power point or an experienced mage.

===Important Individuals===

As lazy this will sound, I'm not really going to do this section aside from translating the real-life people to their Derlavai counterparts. Because that's all these people are.

• Adolf Hitler = King Mezentio (Algarve)
• Joseph Stalin = King Swemmel (Unkerlant)
• King Donalitu (Jelgava) no equivalent and nothing of note (the one original Person, and he has no interesting character traits. GOD FUCKING DAMN-), to be replaced by Mezentio's brother (Francisco Franco equivalent- why he's Hitler's  Mezentio's brother is anyones guess) when Algarve conquers the area
• Winston Churchill = King Vitor
• Benito Mussolini = Yaninan King

And that's all I got: Also, Gyongyos is ruled by an Ekrekek (Emperor), and Kuusano is ruled by Several Princes who share power.

I hope reading through this was as exciting for you as it was for me.

Danger Status: 5/5: Every soldier uses a wand the shape of a rifle that shoots energy weapons (that can only be reflected by silver or similarly reflective metals), they've got living tanks which are essentially a Woolly Mammoth, an utterly bullshit magic system (Genocide now equals Nuclear Weaponry. Need I explain how this could be dangerous, especially if someone learns this magic system?) and can aerial blitz cities with magical bombs. Even The Alliance is going to call fucking bullshit on these people, and whomever wins here will have some terrifyingly potent gains.