Notable new characters and factions in Cyberspace
The Factions
Its note easily noted about the difference between the various factions that reside in the just the realm of Cyberspace but to say the least, they are real and as active as the other factions on the Physical Layer. Along with their diversely different core beliefs and quirks are their wildly unique leaders and lieutenants.
Physical Layer Factions
The Shadow Board: Although this group is detailed in another book (Through the Glass Darkly), it should be noted that this group is widely and sporadically involved in the actions of Cyberspace. Not all members know about the realm of Cyberspace so action among members of this fractured Faction is sparse and infrequent. It has only been recently noted that there could be a Cyberspace outside of the Web and that such rumors could lead to a new war on an entirely new battlefield.
The Grid: These humans are conspiracy theorists and are constantly on the hunt for anything suspicious. They do not believe in vampires or supernatural creatures (but aliens) and have created a bunch of theories about Dark Day and usually mix it up with stuff from various RPG’s and movies so it gets mixed up.
Originally they were so tied up in aliens invading and Area 51 they had no clue as to the power of the Nightlords or their secret war with the Nightbane. Since Dark Day, however, they have had a load to talk about; there has been so many monsters and weird phenomenon that it is widely ignored by all of the serious factions including the Nightlords. However there are some things that they have discovered that perhaps should be noted but they have not confirmed.
The show Nightlands and Dark Harbor (a New York cop vs. evil creatures secret invasion conspiracy theory) produced by Dark World Productions (Lilith) could be true but to get to this dark world is impossible as they have no one mystical in their ranks but the dreams of some are vivid.
Some one is attempting to poison the human populous. As to how they are is undetermined. Some suspect that it’s though cosmetics and sanitation products.
There is a new discovered element that when sharpened is sharper than anything that has been produced on earth.
Some programs in various computers especially the more complex have turned on their programming masters and may be attempting to either delete themselves or escape into a physical body.
The Beast is real, looking for every man woman and child and the apocalypse is happening with nothing to stop it.
The Nightlords: For the most part the Nightlords have ignored Cyberspace. There is however those that know full well that the cursed Nightbane can use their talent of Lightning Rider and leave the Physical Layer. To combat this, the Nightlords have funneled all of the online communication though thirteen servers that reside in thirteen points of the world. Along with the servers they have installed RES. The program flushes out Nightbane as they cannot conform to the various limits that are place on other creatures of the realm of Cyberspace. The only problem with the RES it’s at only the Physical Layer and cannot penetrate the deeper layers of the realm of Cyberspace. The Nightlords don’t see this as a problem as most Nightbane don’t enter the deeper layers but for only a split second unaware that they have even entered and exited a realm of existence. Their sudden jump puts them back in the RES and in the Physical Layer and once again exposed to the RES and its ‘magic’ to expose those that are not part of the program.
The other Layer Factions
The Net Daemons: The Resistance is to the Physical Layer (‘real’ world) as the Net Daemons are to the virtual one. Hundreds of Nightbane fight the Nightlords and all of their digital information attempting to confer clean data to the other factions like a invisible ghost while keeping poor data and misleading data in the hands of the Nightlords and any other clown that attempts to tap into this secret resource. This however is the lesser of two fronts that they are fighting.
The second one is fighting the creatures that the Nightlords have created (viruses) that have invaded their home (Cyberspace). Their first attempt is to fight the virus in the Physical Layer by breaking into the computer of vastly secured servers. For the first decade this was successful but the Nightlords got wise to the style of attack and have put stronger and stronger defenses in the RES making it almost impossible to get back into the Physical world without death or near death experience. This has limited the attacks to the RES directly and has directed them to fight the battles in Cyberspace. To kill this faction would require shutting down almost every electrical device and more importantly the thirteen servers that expand the globe.
Recruitment is almost always by accident as they are a new Nightbane that have not been cataloged by the RES and they slip in the world of Cyberspace. Encounters turn into a young Nightbane on the run in the cyber realm bumping into the RES and the various viruses attempting to catalog this ‘new program’. Roughly 40% get rescued from being destroyed. After they are put into a safe house that is usually disguised as a safe/common website and they are there taught about the world that they have entered and the possibility of not ever being able to get back.
The Net Daemons are captained by a Ancient Nightbane that is incapable of getting into the realm of Cyberspace (ironic) but a master of programming codes and the RES. Prior to the coming of Dark Day Jared West was a Nightbane that had got comfy in his possession as a entrepreneur and multi-billionaire (the seventies had been kind to him). As such he invested his time and talent developing what would later be the magical land of internet. Initially it was a military project and was very linear with no real potential. That’s when the genius met Millard Yates a master at programming and hardware building.
The two began building a series of prototypes for communicating electronically. In a matter of months the two had developed a program that could be used by any computer and convey a series of messages instantly though hard lines. Millard was not suspicious in the least that he was working with a supernatural creature like Jared. In the next two dozen years the two created a company that was a superpower among the people of the word.
Dark Day twisted this dream of Jared as when the Nightlords took over; they attempted to take over Jared and Millard’s company Peach Computers. The morning Millard didn’t report to work but a Doppler did. Jared did what any other Nightbane did and killed the Millard creature and released a press note that Millard died on Dark Day of a heart attach. He knew that he was now in danger. Though out his travels he had known other Nightbane and quickly contacted them and organized them into the Board; a group that would be the buffer that would be greeted before Jared. He also ordered that the Board stay in the building and find a way to enter and exit the building without detection. That is when the realm of Cyberspace was discovered.
Cyberspawn
Recruitment is similar to the scene from a sci-fi movie where there is an invisible force (the Beast) communicating with Nightbane prior to their Becoming that have been detected and invited to the realm of Cyberspace.
For most of these Nightbane it’s a dream come true to escape their freakish real world that has been turned up side down. Through a series of rigorous training simulations in the real world that help them recognize members of other factions and the Nightlord’s minions, the Net Daemon and any other being that frequents the place the Beast calls home. The final test comes when they are taught how to tap into their Morphus and transform creating a mark. Those that never succeed are left in the ‘real’ world with a email to the Nightlords as to where they live. If that doesn’t bring about their Becoming, they are usually dead by the following morning. The Nightlords do not know who this mysterious benefactor is and it has caused them to grow suspicious as their RES cannot trace the email or any details as to how their mysterious informant received information of Nightbane. Those that are lucky get to the more generous and forgiving Net Daemons. The only thing that draws suspicion is the strange barcode that is now permanently part of their Morphus.
The Cyberspawn are run by a mysterious benefactor that hunts down those that have not experienced their becoming but the face that is associated with the Cyberspawn and its minions is being called Barcode. Barcode is a Nightbane that has made an effort to call all his Nightbane minions/loyalists the Cyberspawn. He works directly for the Beast who he has never seen but has benefited extremely from. In the Physical Layer he is Ryan Young a young businessman who works directly with Dr. Zeiss (see Nightlands page 37) in her development of RES. His supernatural nature is carefully guarded and although the doctor is somewhat suspicious (she is suspicious of everyone just like her lord Lilith) she trust him just enough to work with the RES because he is such a vicious businessman and violent with his underlings (an effect working with the Beast). Young Mr. Young is constantly tuning his talent of Lighting Rider attempting to slip past the RES. So far because his closeness has paid off and no one in the faction of Cyberspawn have been ever been detected as he has made his Lightning Rider now an Elite Talent.
