Atomagic
It has been said that the rise in magic has somehow affected the stability
and reliability of
nuclear reactions. Certainly, many more meltdowns and "incidents"
have been reported
since the Awakening began, even as some nuclear weapons failed to detonate...in
total,
some 18 meltdowns have occurred since 2001, and the only recorded successful
detonations
of nuclear weapons is Libya and the Cermak Blast. The warheads
during the Second Korean War
and the Lone Eagle Incident didn't go off when launched at Japan or
Russia, respectively.
I shall note that many, if not all, of these meltdowns are physically impossible without the aid of magic.
2004 A partial meltdown resulting in
fallout around Dungeness, UK. Nearly a third of 800 gamers
gathered there for a convention died!
Libya and Israel went to war. Ten minutes later, three nuclear weapons
from Israel turned
Libya into a radioactive corpse. Making a beautiful stage fro the
Desert Wars. Nice.
As Germany attempts to shut down all of it's nuclear power plants, Biblis,
near Mannheim in
southern Germany comes within a hair's breadth to meltdown and releases
a quantity of
radioactive gas into the atmosphere.
2008 The Cattenom-GAU French nuclear
reactor fractures and releases radioactive gas into the
atmosphere, creating whatwould be the SOX. Rumors put Feuershwinge
the Great Dragon
in Cattenom at the time of the meltdown.
2009 "The Lone Eagle Incident"
A group of AmerInds gain control of the Shiloh Launch Facility
in northwest Montana; and launch one 16-warhead "Lone Eagle" MIRV missle
at Russia.
The missle's warheads did not detonate.
Mar.
4th-A meltdown of a French nuclear plant causes the radioactive contamination
of
the entire Saarland, province of Lorraine, and the tiny kingdom of Luxembourg.
2011 Eight Meltdowns occurred, including
the Sizewell nuclear power plant in England as well as
the Dounrey nuclear power plant in Scotland.
2013 The Trojan-Satsop nuclear power
plant suffers a partial metldown in Redmond, Seattle.
Kilometers of contaminated land surrounding the plant, including Beaver
Lake, become
known as Glow City.
2014 Redondo Peak erupts due to the
Great Ghost Dance, burying the nuclear research facility near
there.
2027 The Los Angeles Power and Water
company pioneers the first use of cold fusion technology.
2028 Shiawese Atomics opens a new nuclear
power plant in Glow City, right next to the rusting
hulk of the previous one.
Rumors abound of damage to reactors and extensive leaks among the Los Angeles
fusion plants,
following the earthquake that destroyed LAX.
2035 The meltdown of the Yarrow reactor
complex creates the Northern Toxic Zone in northern
England.
2037 Shiawese patents fusion reactor
technology
2045 The Green Tide-a reactor overload
at an automated research station of the coast of Los
Angeles caused a radioactive tidal wave that rocked the surrounding city
and county. The
sickly green glow, called the "Green Tide" still covers southern Caliornia
beaches from Ventura
to Oceantide.
2050 Samuel Verner uses the Great Ghost Dance to
neutralize several nuclear weapons.
2055 Sep. 1st-The Cermak Blast-A sub-tactical nuclear
weapon is detonated inside a
multi-species insect hive, within a powerful ward/barrier, as roughly a
thousand new
insect spirits were being invested. A mana warp is created at the
site of the blast.
A short note: The nuke was Ares'. Most megacorps have nuclear capability, few have more than a token: Ares, Saeder-Krupp and Mitsuhama. |
Where to Find It
A note: while most developed nations use fusion as a source of power,
several regressing
and developing nations require amounts of plutonium and uranium
to power their fission
plants, which create nuclear waste. Likewise, when fusion
plants need to be decomissioned
(due to continuous neutron bombardment weakening the core),
certain materials remain
radioactive (dangerously so) for 17,000 years or so.
Uranium Deposits:
Cascade Ork lands, Salish Shide Council, near Peshastin. A routine survey in 2036 turned up an astounding concentration of Uranium. Ivory Coast, North Africa, in the North. Aztechnology mines and enriches uranium for fissile material. Kakadu, Australia. Shiawese was mining uranium here until the Manastorms drove 'em out. Olympic Dam Uranium reserve, Australia. Shiawese has exclusive rights to mine here. Irradiated Zones and Hot Spots: The Green Tide-a reactor overload at an automated research station of the coast of Los Angeles caused a radioactive tidal wave that rocked the surrounding city and county. The sickly green glow, called the "Green Tide" still covers southern Caliornia beaches from Ventura to Oceantide. The color is caused by a mildly radioactive phospherescent fungus. The North Sea-polluted by radioactive waste from Britain, Scotland and Germany due to meltdowns, among other nasty and sundry things. Vaughn, Pueblo Corporate Council-A site where the USA had a nuclear waste processing plant, visited by members of the Atomic Kiva. Trinity, Pueblo Corporate Council-Site of the first atomic blast, and of a cult called the Atomic Kiva, led by a toxic shaman named Sejuaro Protonés, who claims to follow the Atom totem. Scottish Irradiated Zone, Scotland, UK. Created by the Dourney meltdown of 2011. SOX, German Alliance, Europe. Remains of Luxembourg, Saarland and Lorraine; ruined by the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. Saeder-Krupp and other companies set up research facilities there. It has been officially classified as a Mana Warp. Also notable for a breed of chimerae immune to radioactivity. Redondo Peak, Pueblo Corporate Council-The whole eastern portion of the PCC is was subtly altered by the nuclear weapons research of the past century, as well as by the after-effects of the Great Ghost Dance. Here, the two combine: the Dance buried a nuclear research facility...a facility that the PCC has secretly excavated and put to work. The combination of radiation and Ghost Dance magic...maybe. Paguate, Pueblo Corporate Council-An old uranium mine visited by the Atomic Kiva. Northern Toxic Zone, England, UK. Created by a reactor meltdown; radioactivity continues to drift out into the Irish Sea. Maralinga and Emu Junction, Australia-sites of atomic testing, each site is a Rating 6 Mana Warp. Los Alamos, Pueblo Corporate Council-the infamous birthplace of the atomic bomb, this area has a background count of 2 and is aspected toward Nuclear spirits (i.e. Toxic Spirits of the Flames) Libyan Desert, North Africa-the remains of the 2004 Israeli nuclear strike, and setting of the Desert Wars, which doesn't help the background count any. Kent Irradiated Zone, England, UK. Created by a partial meltdown around Dungeness. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan-The physical effects of the nuclear devices detonated her are nearly gone, but the damage to the Astral remains. Cermak Crater, Chicago, UCAS-site of the infamous Big Bug Blast, this area is a Rating 7 Mana Warp. Bathotech Geothermal Powerstation, Under the Polar Ice Cap, Trans-Polar Aleut Nation-A heat tap exploded and released a number of radioisotopes, causing a great deal of ecological damage. Antarctica-The hole in the ozone layer allows a great deal of UV rays to hit Antarctica, which is responsible for the increased cancer rates and probably has something to do with the mana surge affecting the whole continent. |
Notes on the interaction of
Magic, Nuclear Weapons and Radiation.
Theory and Suppostition
Magic is effected by radiation. The
reason why is the question: it could be that the use of nuclear weapons
and reactors is an unnatural act, or it could be that radiation kills
and pollutes lifeforms, thus warping the mana
on the astral plane. Perhaps the reason outer space is one big
mana warp is due to the presence of radiation as
much as a lack of life. Or maybe the psychological or symbolic
impact of a nuclear weapon is more damaging to
the Astral than radiation. Nobody knows. Likewise, the
numerous meltdowns of nuclear plants and failure of
nuclear warheads to detonate is suspected by some to be a side-effect
of the Awakening changing nuclear reactions
in some way, but nothing has been proven.
What I do know, however, is that radiation
is physical. The effects it has on the Astral may be severe, but
no
one whose astral form sits at ground zero in the Cermak Blast Crater
will receive any amount of radiation sickness.
Now, whether they can survive the mana warp there is another thing
entirely. Radioactive pollution is reflected on the
Astral, but not present there. As a physical thing, magic can
provide some protection from radiation, in the form of the
spells Radiation Shield and Radiation Barrier.
As with other sites of astral
pollution, physical pollution and negative emotions, the spirits in these
areas can
become tainted, and may be summoned by toxic shamans who embrace such
corruption.
It is suspected that the larger
number of mutant critters is the result of gene damage due to radiation
and toxic
substances that active metatraits, hence giving the critters paranatural
abilities.
Critters
The genetic aftermath of radiation and pollutants
may result in a mutant critter, which may have paranatural
powers; toxic critters, which will definately have paranatural powers
(more than it started with), and toxic
spirits. Peculiar to sites of radioactive waste and destruction
are Toxic Spirits of the Flames; glowing humanoids
of sickly light and radioctive might, summoned by toxic shamans.
The Cermak Blast
On September 1st, 2055, a subtactical nuclear
weapon was detonated within a massive multi-species
insect spirit hive in Chicago. At the time of the blast, nearly
a thousand spirits were being invested in hosts;
and an incredibly powerful magical barrier was being erected over the
hive via ritual magic.
The resulting detonation destroyed all
flesh-forms within the hive; as well as all cocoons and shamans
present. Spirits throughout Chicago went into a coma-like sleep
on the Astral Plane; awakened only by
magical and/or astral activity. At the site of the blast, damage
and radius of effect was considerably less than
normal for a weapon of it's magnitude. As one approached the
final location of the bomb, however, the crater
appears to be much deeper than normal, and the amount of radiation
increases to several times greater than
normal for a bomb of that type. Additionally, a magical background
count is present beginning at the edge of the
blast, and growing stronger as one approaches the center until it becomes
a mana warp.
The question of why the Big Bug
Blast had such an effect is that, again, nuclear weapons are purely physical.
It seems obvious that any physically manifested or flesh-form spirit
should be destroyed, but any astral form should
have been (relatively) unharmed, with the exception of being caught
in a sudden mana warp.
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