Signing Up

Deciding to be a member of the underground is a momentous decision. It essentially means that you'll be committing yourself permanently to the destruction of the Conspiracy. The underground cannot allow dabblers, they need committed elements. Mai, Leo, B3, Veronica, Spenser, Darcy, etc, are all part of a “cell” of an organization that is somewhat generically termed “The Empathic Underground” seeking to discover just how far this dark conspiracy has gotten, and find ways to turn the tide.

Codenames

Though it's very possible that your recruiter may know your name, it's important not to share details about one's identity with other members of the underground. Doing so means that losing one member makes it easier for other members to be captured subsequently. To that extent, codenames are used instead of real names at all times. You need to select one.

General Situation

So the basics are these. Beings from other places than our world have come to our world. It appears likely that they've been coming over for all of humanity's history, and perhaps longer (who can say?), but that it appears that their influence was limited in the past. It's possible that ancient conspiracies such as the Rosicrucians were part of the earlier attempts by these powerful beings to send emmisaries. But who can say how far they got? Early influence seems to have been in terms of these beings giving ancient sorcerers some small amount of empathic techniques to work with.

The problem with these beings from these other places is that many or all of them seem to have the quality that they feed on emotion, and not on the happy ones. The group in general, owing to the darkly malevolent nature of these beings, refers to them collectively as “Darklings.” A lot of the downward spiral that the world is in, even things like the nuclear war in Australia, are likely the fault of these beings. The consensus amongst those in the know is that very likely they are attempting… and succeeding at… taking over the world.

As of some point in the twentieth century, probably the latter half, the limited interaction level changed, and many more beings were able to enter our world somehow. Humans have always been capable of unexplained powers, but these, too, seem to have become more potent at around the same time as the increase in influence by creatures of the otherworlds.

This also happens to coincide somehow with the appearance of aliens from other stars in our world. Though some speculate that these “aliens” may actually have come from just another of these other “dimensions.” What the connection is between the darklings and aliens, if any, is unclear.

Travel Along Other Dimensions

As mentioned, the enemy comes from other worlds than ours.

To Other Worlds

These other worlds are often referred to as “proto-dimensions” as these other worlds are thought to be generally more rudimentary than ours. Though some feel that's just our perspective on the subject. He gives substantial details on how humans can travel along dimensions in our world quickly, or, by turning just right, enter other proto-dimensions… in theory. This ability to walk along other dimensions to other worlds is referred to as “Dimension Walking.”

In practice only a few humans are known who can go to these other dimensions, mostly because they simply don't know which way to turn to get to them. Benny is one of the few, knowing how to get to two other dimensions now. The underground has another member, “Veronica” who is a “mystic,” which means that she is capable of easily entering and exiting a dimension of mind alone, which they refer to as the Astral Plane.

As for why one would want to go to these other worlds, at this point it's basically all about gathering information, and getting a clearer picture of who the enemy is. That said, such efforts have been rudimentary up until this point.

Known Proto-Dimensions

This is a listing of the few proto-dimensions known to exist.

Astral Plane

A world of mental projection, this world may be somehow in between all other worlds, and travel here physically can be disastrous.

Changing Lands

This is a place where reality seems to change fairly quickly and with no rhyme or reason. There are myriad types of sapient beings in the Changing Lands, but few are easy to communicate with.

The Fae Realm

Bearing some slight resemblance to the Changing Lands, in that it tends to be naturalistic in terms of the landscape, The Fae Realm has none of the changing nature of the Changing Lands. Rather it seems that time there passes far more quickly, but little ever changes. The dark “elves” who are the Realm's primary inhabitants are malign, twisted beings. They appear to follow a titanic elemental being that they call “The Earth Mother,” but the direction from this being is delivered to them by an entity known as The Green Man.

It's pretty clear that many of the beings from the Fae realm can befuddle people's minds into making the victim think they look like just normal people, or whatever they like. Anybody you know could, theoretically, be a Dark Elf in reality.

Mai rescued a unicorn and a couple of elven kids from this proto-dimension.

Bog Realm

Possibly the same proto-dimension as the Fae Realm, the denizens in this swampy area are somewhat diferent from those of the Fae Realm, including the three Fauths that have been brought into the Chicago area.

Mega-Fauth Bog Realm

Again,the relationship of this realm to the Bog Realm or the Fae Realm is unclear, but this marshy dimension collapsed when the gargantuan Fauth that inhabited it was destroyed.

The Black Chamber

Peopled by a generally tall and slim race of beings (therefore referred to as “The Tall Ones”), the dimension of the Black Chamber is small and odd, repeating back upon itself after only what appears to be about a Kilometer or so. In it's “center” is a lake, in which is a vaulted edifice whose Tall One inhabitants refer to as The Black Chamber. These beings have some sort of odd social structure, and seem to be obsessed in many different ways with flesh.

Apparently at the top of their hierarchy is a Tall One several times taller than the rest, though little is known about this entity, other than that it's name is The Lord of Lies.

Mirror Dimension

Apparently mirrors are doorways to a proto-dimension where things are the reverse of the real world.

In Our World