Between Abyssal Skies - Off-Season Cabinet
The World
The events of Between Abyssal Skies occur in a world of islands suspended between the extremes of baleful disorder above and deathly stasis below, populated by two species who, despite physiological distinctions, are not all that different to each other.
The Bestiary
The world between skies boasts a broad variety of beasts both wild and tame. Dogs and big cats are used as guards; small cats and foxes as companions; corvids as mail-carriers and living burglar alarms; reindeer and cows, hens and ostriches as a source of food. In the deep forsts, one should be wary of crossing the path of a tiger or bear. And the lives of sky-sailors are complicated by encounters with flying wyrms and winged hydras.
The Age of Lightning
The local civilisations are currently undergoing an extended Enlightenment era, boasting such cutting-edge technologies as the power loom, the sky-ship of the line, the electrical telegraph, the skyfarer’s chronometer and the spring-powered bolt-thrower.
The Supernatural
There is wide disagreement about whether the divine consists of five abstract principles, or of about two dozen deities, or of a more difficult to understand unified force that attains highly specific properties when it permeates and possesses places, items, and people. But in any case, the divine seems to take an ‘interest’ in the lives of sufficiently remarkable mortals, for good and ill. Such mortals are referred to as Thespians, and often enjoy supernatural gifts, whether willingly or not.
In addition to the divine, there are other supernatural phenomena and entities, originating from the Abysses above and below; these, however, are much more dangerous for the denizens of the world, and often much more hostile.
The Most Noteworthy Social Organisation
Decades ago, a series of upheavals both geopolitical (such as large wars and revolutions) and supernatural (such as chaotic cataclysms and plagues of monsters) has prompted the creation of the Ataraxia Concordat, an organisation with purposes as varied as upholding laws of war, hunting monsters, reducing inter-religious tensions, and conducting research of the supernatural. To a degree, it was successful at those tasks.
Unsurprisingly, an organisation like this immediately became a place of intrigue and conflicting goals.
The Protagonists and Their Story
This is a chronicle of a group of people – whether Thespian or not – who have been recently invited to become members of the Off-Season Cabinet, a small council into whose responsibility the Ataraxia Concordat redirects miscellaneous issues that the bigger cabinets should not, can not, or will not currently handle. These people will be dealing with their duties, their divided loyalties, and their personal agendas. They will engage in politics, occult investigations, monster hunts, religious debates, forging individual bonds, and the like.
The Media Touchstones
The world Between Abyssal Skies is inspired by such media as the Council (2018 game), the Rose of Versailles (anime), Dishonored (game series), the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Count of Monte Cristo, Styx (Master of Shadows and Shards of Darkness), Thief (game series), Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies (game setting), and maybe a bit of Vidocq (2001 film).
Indirectly inspirational music includes Apocalyptica (Cult, Reflections), Therion (Vovin, Theli, Deggial, Crowning of Atlantis), Ad Infinitum (Chapter I – Monarchy), Artesia, Leaves’ Eyes (Vinland Saga and perhaps Lovelorn).
I've been wanting to GM this for several years now, but even the setting articles are only maybe at best 60% ready, and I don't want to make a half-hearted attempt, so it waits until I have the time and energy to make it ready.
Last edited February 26, 2025 3:25 pm
