THE INVISIBLE WAR
Immortal 1st Edition Materials and Support
Here we present materials to support and enhance your enjoyment of
Immortal The Invisible War. Yes, above you sits only one of the 4 different logos
used for Immortal 1st Edition. It does not look like the original logo used on the
main 1st Edition Rules book (which was the only place that logo was ever used).
Please select from the menus and links below to retrieve whatever you need. In this
section you'll find various pieces of update information about the Prides, the Stratagem,
and a few templates to do things like make up your own needed Callings information, etc.
Below the menu you can read up on some of the issues facing 1st Edition versus 2nd
Edition.
Most of what appears from the
above menu is work in progress that was transmuted into 2nd Edition material. Some
of these concepts appear (or will appear) in 2nd Edition material possibly. You can
get a look at some of the more ancient history of the Prides as they recall their roots at
the teachings of their Abzulim masters. Hopefully the material here can give you
much insight. Some sections are simply not finished yet, and hopefully we will have
time to add to them for the 1st Edition fans when time permits.
encryption [7]
return locus: <kirin at
sanctuary>
received by: <emissary; talitha at
sanctuary>
language: english
subject: memorial for the prides
summary: a monument is erected to the
warriors who died in the great betrayal.
keyword search: anopheles, arachne,
banjax, dracul, eremites, magdalen, morrigan, nimord, peri, phoenix, roane, tautha, terat,
great betrayal, sanctuary, mankind
date: year of the pale
message as follows:
"Today we came together, the survivors of once great pantheons, the
anopheles, arachne, banjax, dracul, eremites, magdalen, morrigan, nimrod, peri, phoenix,
roane, tautha and terat. there were so few of us I had to cry. we talked about the great
betrayal, the ambush that cost the destruction of so many of us and we realized how petty
we had been, how we lacked the unity to save us in that horrible battle two years ago.
already we have been absorbed into the greater courts of the transcendants and lost our
identity. but we do not forget who we are, and we dont forget our beliefs. by the
dragon sharakai who is ever wise and with us, we understand that we had grown complacent
in the millennia dealing with the beast. we understand that the beasts patience and power
and treachery are without equal. many of us are glad to have survived the assimilation of
all our brothers and sisters. many of us wish we could die. but I say to all of you that
the war is itself a living thing. it is ours to control if we will have the courage and
the fortitude. long may sanctuary stand, until the day when we can take back what the
sanguinary took from us. remember mankind. they are half of the key to victory.""Nothing is ever truly
gone, at the least it is never forgotten by at least one." -- Arturo |
"Yeah, it's dead.
But since you really wanted proof, here are the remains"
Pride Slayer Maxim
Many of you are asking what was the Invisible War all about?
What, why and where did 1st Edition go? There was a 1st Edition? This section
of the website tries to answer those questions, as well as help 1st Edition players make
the jump over to 2nd Edition.
1st Edition was set in a time of the Prides. Where once the
Immortals grouped by together by their animal type, the Age of Myth brought about the
power of the Courts, were ideology and how an Immortal felt him or herself connected to
reality were the driving force. Before the Age of Myth these Immortal groupings were
called Prides. And after the Age of Myth ended, the greatest of the Pantheons, the
Norse, the Greek, the Egyptian, etc., once again took the name of Prides and plyed their
own twisted, warped version of the Stratagem. Those poor unfortunates who awoke to
their Immortality in the last many centuries were found by these great Pantheons, twisted
and changed over the many years. They were never told the truth about the Courts and
what lay beyond.
The Prides themselves began to believe their own lies and soon the
vast majority of a fairly young generation of Immortals had no knowledge of the wonders of
the Age of Myth, or the truths behind it. Until 1998 (two years ago) when the great
Pantheon of the Orient, the Dracul, fell to what would become known as the Great
Betrayal. Over two years, the greatest of the Pantheons, nothing like they once
were, all fell to the powers of the Progeny, betrayed by some unknown agent. The few
survivors were gathered together by the Courts, and the truth was finally given to them.
The Prides - Anopheles, Banjax, Dracul, Eremite, Magdalen, Morrigan,
Nimrod, Peri, Phoenix, Roane, Tautha, and Terat. Even the Gentry that followed them,
all disbanded themselves back into the Courts to hopefully reform their great and might
pantheons once again someday. 1st Edition is their story.
Below we present the web based support from Precedence for 1st
Edition, known as Immortal: The Invisible War. This is all there is, there are
no other answers. This area will not remain up forever, but at least for the
forseeable future. We hope you can take this area and use it to answer what final
questions you have, and then take the conversion information and use it to jump yourself
into 2nd Edition. We do not want you to think that 1st Edition was forgotten, but
simply put the game was redesigned to make it easier to play and understand, as well as
lend itself to LARP. 1st Edition was not forgotten. Much was meant to be
revealed, but unfortunately, due to what we all call real life, some things just could not
come to be. 2nd Edition is where things were headed, and it was decided that some
things could be smoothed out and fixed along the way.
Immortal, like many games that are coming out today, is
story-based. It has a developing overall plotline, that is supported and tailored,
based on the players out there. It continues on, with some of our favorite
characters and groups leaving, and new ones coming in. The storyline and the
timeline must progress, so please don't feel that this was done to "get rid" of
1st Edition. Much of 1st Edition (as it was progressing) appears in 2nd Edition if
you look closely enough.
But enough of that for now, please, if you need the
resources we provide here for you, make use of them! Please note that we do not have
copies of the 1st Edition books reprinted here, these are extra resources to clarify and
enhance what you will find in the 1st Edition books.
The following is an open letter that Ran Ackels wrote to an Immortal
fan, that is being reposted here to answer some of your questions concerning why a 2nd
Edition. It was written shortly after GenCon 1998. Though some of the things
have changed in the last year plus since this was written, it gives a nice insight into
the mind of a brilliant artist at work.
I have found the discussion about Immortal to be very
interesting, from the standpoint of the creator. I feel like some sort of empath who is
getting all of these different perspectives about what Immortal is, and what Immortal is
trying to say. Certainly there is a great deal of philosophy in Immortal, just as
philosophy is the binding glue to this entity we call religion (or for religion that has
fallen out of vogue, mythology). Immortal is not about the struggle between good and evil.
None of us mere mortals can be defined by either of these poles, so how could a race as
illimitable as the immortals be?
We are all shaped by belief. It's inevitable. Some will believe in Christ, some in a
divine force that welcomes all into a friendly embrace, no matter what their crimes on
earth. Some believe that life and self-awareness ends with their last breath, and that
there is nothing beyond. Life is only an electro-chemical process animating animal tissue
and the soul is an invention of those afraid of oblivion. I suspect the Many (if not
openly then in their heart) are simply waiting to see what happens. Even in not believing
in anything, they are believers waiting to happen. Immortal explores belief, in all the
shades of gray it exists within. That was my intention from the start, and that has not
changed. In working on the second edition, my goal is two-fold: To solidify the universe
out of my head and to strike a chord that exists in everyone. To this end, there will be
changes. These changes are not transformations of the old into the new, but the digging
deeper into the old. First Edition Immortal gave us the perspective of the relatively
young immortals. How they percieved the Stratagem and those reigning above them. Life in
the Perpetual Society.
Second Edition allows us to look through the eyes of the old ones. To get at the core of
what mythology is and how it was created, to explore the symbiosis between mortals and
immortals, and to step into the new age when the Sanguinary rises from its old prison.
There is a sense of urgency here, and some might construe it to be the end of the
universe, a great big armageddon that will be played out.
No.
Mythology (Religion) is a circle. It is endless. It spirals through us like so much DNA.
As long as there is sentient life on our world, there will be mythology. Even the
immortals, who have masqueraded as gods for most of human history feel the weight of their
deception and look at those who have achieved Eidos as the only true gods. It should
surprise no one that the immortals
worship those who have passed into transcendence.
Immortal is eternal, but it is also so vast that many many people simply can't fathom it.
If you could read the mail I have recieved. People have read the book, been blown away by
its depth, and prompty shelved it. Most don't even try to get through it. When creating
the game, I tried to put too much of what was in my head into one book. The result: most
people can't access the essential premise of the game. Too much jargon, too many ideas not
well explained. Second Edition's design is to change that. To present the ideas that are
Immortal in very clear concepts that people can absorb. This makes the game simpler, but
the depth will still be there.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Will the Immortal timeline change?
Timelines are written by the victorious. There is an overall immortal timeline that arks
over the entire 65 million years. Most people would drop into ennui before getting through
a tenth of it. There will be an established continuity in the timeline from the
perspective of the old immortals, not the young ones still obsessed with emulating
humanity and it's means of documenting time.
What are some of the changes?
The prides as you know them are really only vogue terms for much older organizations, the
Courts. The Courts are powerful and ancient. They have survived the turmoil created by the
transition of the immortals from animals to people. The Courts are simple in their
identity. The Court of War, for example, is dedicated to war, in all of its applications.
The Peri are only part of this ancient organization. The Anopheles are only part of the
much deeper Court of Desire. To identify the courts in the Second Edition does a couple
things. First, new players can instantly understand and identify with a particular group
without trying to keep the lingo straight. Secondly, we see the immortals as primal
powers. Ares, Mars, Set, Athena, Thor---we see all these gods of war set against the
backdrop of the many cultures who revere them and realize their brotherhood goes beyond
cultural identity.
System: The Immortal system will be as streamlined as possible, making it as elegant as
possible and lending itself to live-action rules as well. Anyone who has ever played a
serious game with me will find that the live-action element has always been a core
component of Immortal. I wish I could tell you more about the system, but that material is
still being devoloped. Why add confusion? More callings are being detailed and character
creation will be a joy.
The Setting: Immortal is being set perpetually a few years into the future during which
the Invisible War is becoming visible. I have always planned this. Conspiracy gaming is
nice, but everyone is doing it and I rather like an evolving universe rather than a
stagnant one. With the second edition you will understand the nature of the enemy (the
Droves) and see the return of the Abzulim to reclaim their lost empire here. And caught
between the immortal triangle of Perpetual, Drove and Abzulim---the human race which has
almost become a soulless entity under the will of the Sanguinary. You will see the Jury,
representatives of the Transcendants responsible for the Sanguinary's defeat change its
tactics as the final battle nears. As a result, the Strategem changes with them.
Other Products Planned
Along with the Second Edition, I plan to have a book on the immortal's adversaries (The
Droves, Abzulim, etc), a cool setting book, a single book with all the Courts detailed
(rather than the singular sourcebooks for each one as with the Dracul Sourcedbook). Also
planned is a novel, which is in the works even now. We want to make certain to support
Second Edition well, with regular releases rather than the sporadic release schedule we
have had so far. We are also planning a good amount of advertisement to get people's
attention. In about a couple weeks, my personal page will be up and
accessible. It will add to this information, as well as provide info on the Peri. As soon
as it is up, I will post the address to the list.
GENCON
Essentially Gencon this year was about Babylon 5 CCG for Precedence. We promoted our game
with a guest appearance from Claudia Christian, the actress many of you know as Ivanova on
the television series. I was very happy to see a core of loyal Immortal players running
demos throughout the con, and had the good fortune to be part of a game run by Rick Don.
Thanks to all of you at that game (that means you too Jeff!) I had a total blast.
I had a question/answer panel which stated a lot of the above. Introduced in that panel
was Paul Beakly, a freelance writer I have chosen to help make the Second Edition happen.
He's very talented and I have full confidence in his ability to write the Second Edition.
Our collaboration thus far has been smooth and will only benefit the game.
That all for now. I hope this isn't too long for all of you. Thanks again for your support
and I look forward to more interesting discussion on the mail list.
Ran Ackels,
Creator, Immortal
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