Reich

Reich is a modern world, where, in fact, the Nazis won the war. This world operates under different laws of the universe. The most obvious example of this is phlogiston.

Whenever anything burns, it generates phlogiston along with heat and light. Air absorbs phlogiston, otherwise the flames would not go out. It appears that, if there is too much phlogiston in the air, then it smothers the fire. Air has a limited capacity for absorbing phlogiston, so that once it has absorbed as much as it can, it is said to be phlogisticated.

Phlogiston has another property, and that it is lighter than anything else, including a vaccuum. Because of this, it is used in the construction of great airships, which are much safer to use as well as being cheaper, than ships that get their lift from hydrogen or helium.

Another property is that nuclear weapons were never developed on Reich, since the velocity of temperature increase in any kind of nuclear explosion is too great for the phlogiston to be absorbed into the air. Instead, great advances have been made in biology, medicine and genetics.

As a result of these great advances, both the Axis powers and the Allies were heavily involved in what might as well be called a Super Soldier program. The aim behind this program was to develop powerful entities who could strike with incredible speed and devastating concentration far beyond the normal reach of the military.

These programs have been largely successful, and so several powerful entities are known to exist. However, it appears that there is some inevitable instability in the process, and the super soldiers often die as a result of complications arising from the process that granted them their abilities. At least, that is the case with the Nazi soldiers. Although significantly less powerful, Allied super soldiers don't seem as prone to these difficulties.

Magic is the province of secret groups and orders, and is practiced under the same kind of constraints that one would find on the World of Victoria. Magic of the kind that an Alusion might use are unknown by the general public, although the powerful might have other experiences.

Great Britain is under occupation as far north as Hadrian's Wall. The Nazis say they do not care to prosecute a war any further than this because there is nothing up there but heather and haggis. The Scots are fiercely independent and aggressively defend their borders.

The remnant of the British military forces are being held in a secret based code named Ultima Thule, awaiting an opportunity to liberate their people.

Germany itself, is wealthy and comfortable and the trains run on time. In fact, the railways system is laid out in a manner very similar to what an Alusian might associate with a chamber of magical operations belonging to a Greater Summoner. Except that the dimensions of shapes, marks and sigils are hundreds of miles, not metres.

Aside from normal trains, secret, ritual trains travel around the tracks. Aboard these special trains travel orders of ritual magicians, heavily protected by the Gestapo. As these ritual trains travel, the magicians perform spells that protect the German state from magical interference.

Timing is critical for the success of these magical operations. Occasionally, one can see the body of a station master crucified beside the tracks as a grisly reminder of the consequences of delay.

Notable people in this realm are Colonel Ishii. He has a special reserve of power he draws upon at need. He calls them 'maruta', Japanese for log. They are, in fact, cylinders made out of rolled up human flesh, somewhere between 1.5 metres and 2 metres long. The Colonel uses origami to fold the sheets of flesh, which he cuts off these maruta. He casts disturbingly unpleasant spells.

Another notable is the Biologian, who is said to be the source of much of the German advance in bio-engineering. However, he is an international man of mystery, and little is really known about him.

Orde Wingate maintains a base in the depths of the Burmese jungle, where he emerges from time to time, to strike against the Axis. He is undying although no one knows exactly how, and he is remarkably lucky. In addition, he is a hard man. He has little patience with weakness. He has gathered around him a new group of third generation Chindits, who are fantatically devoted to him.

The powers of an immortal are seriously curtailed in Reich, in much the same way as they are in New Terra.