FASERIPPING into the Golden Age

"Hey British Guy, keep an eye on that Commie will ya?"

“It all started with Hitler.

Some Scientists say whatever was released by the destruction of the Valhalla Gate was around back in the day, they say maybe our myths about ancient gods are really just stories about old Supers…

Maybe.

What I know for sure is that before we fire-bombed the Fuhrers insane experiments, I couldn’t smash a Tiger Tank with my bare hands, and now I can.”

-Colonel “Crush” Taggart , The Liberty Squad 1945.

Particle Physics and the Nazi’s changed mankind forever.  In the late 1930’s German scientist, and Nazi Occultist stated a secret program called Operation Ragnarok. With the goal of creating the ubermench of Nazi propaganda, they succeeded. Building a device called the Valhalla Gate. The program was suspected by the Allies, but the existence of the gate was unknown. In 1944, British Bombers firebombed a German research facility and the Valhalla Gate was destroyed, releasing a shock wave of mysterious energy around the world. Thereafter this surge was known as the Valkyrie Effect. The energy changed people, turning some into Supers or altering the chromosomes of others so that while parents remained normal, children were born with superpowers.

At the same time, the US and Soviets were working on similar programs. When the Valkyrie Effect occurred these programs where unexpectedly accelerated or altered. Test patients, prototypes and experiments underwent radical transformations.  Some subjects immediately became super powered or otherwise altered. At Los Alamos, the Allied research project was quite advanced, and most of the subjects survived with sound mind and body. In the Soviet Union, Design Office #11 was in the early stages of research, and many subjects lost their minds or turned monstrous, fleeing into the Siberian tundra. 

The Allies and the US in particular were able to use the new Supers to win the war, with a newly formed super group , The Liberty Squad leading the spearhead against the Axis. The Japanese program was rudimentary and many of those affected were turned into hideous uncontrollable monsters. The German program while advanced was largely destroyed in the bombing of the research facility; a contingent of test subjects entered the Valhalla Gate and never returned.  The SS enlisted or exterminated those Germans who were changed by the Valkyrie effect. Mysteriously, these supers were not used against the Allies on the battlefield. When the Allies closed in on Berchtesgaden several rockets were seen leaving the atmosphere. Captured intelligence later revealed that the German Supers were carefully protected and left the planet aboard these primitive spaceships, bound for the moon.

By the end of the war, the US and the Soviets were racing to capture any remaining German scientist and Supers involved with operation Ragnarok. The Soviets successfully located and seized the main facilities of German scientist that were relocated in the East after the bombing of the Valhalla Gate. The Liberty Squad infiltrated this facility and captured the remaining scientist from the Soviets, these former Nazi's now work for the USA's own Supers program.  The captured facility still proved a great boon for the Soviets, advancing their knowledge of the Valkyrie Effect immensely.

The world is now in an age of Cold War, with the Soviet Union, and the USA locked in a race for global hegemony. The chief weapons of this conflict are The Supers, strategically held by the Powers as a mutually assured threat of destruction. In the USA, Supers are recruited into the ranks of the Strategic Super Command (SSC), although rumors abound that former Nazi scientist working for the SSC are breeding Supers designed to be unquestioningly loyal to the American Way. The CIA also has a small Supers Unit which traces its history to the OSS and The Liberty Squad. In the Soviet Union Supers work for the KGB, or the 2^nd Guards Supers Division of the Soviet Army.

The Valkyrie Effect

When the Valhalla gate collapsed, a massive surge of energy was released that altered life on the planet earth.  Humanity changed, with some people undergoing spontaneous transformation into what are now called Supers. Others remained the same, but gave birth to children who manifested Super Powers at the onset of puberty. Many Supers were gifted with intellects well beyond Genius level, and this has enabled humanity to advance science in exponential leaps. Unfortunately a majority of the advancements have been made in military science, as most Governments jealously guard and exploit their Supers, viewing them as vital strategic assets. The burst of energy also attracted the attention of others; Alien visitation to the planet has become increasingly common. Publicly, no formal acknowledgement of extraterrestrial life has been made by any of the powers, but most people have seen a saucer by now.

Life for a Super can vary greatly depending on their society. In the Soviet Union, Supers are closely monitored and become property of The Proletariat (the State) as soon as they are discovered. Disappearing into remote Gulags, or becoming members of the elite Soviet Super Army, the 2^nd Guards Division. In the USA, and much of the other “Free World”, Supers are still recognized as humans with all the rights accorded to them by their respective Governments. The USA's Supers Squadrons are voluntary, although propaganda for recruitment is ubiquitous. In the USA, “normal” folks have differing attitudes to Supers depending on personal experience. Despite the Governments efforts to make Hero's of the Liberty Squad, The Valkyrie Effect created as many monsters as it did heroes…

The Alcohol of Shulim

Rules
Alcohol has restorative properties. A swig of strong drink restores 1d3 HP. This may be done once per day plus an additional number of times equal to CON bonus.
Three drinks + CON bonus requires a Save vs intoxication or one becomes drunk.
Being Drunk grants +1d6 temporary HP , -1 to all rolls , and last 3d4 hours.

Jalool or Jal is the most common alcohol of Shulim. An amber rice lager it is consumed with almost every meal. Jal is made by commercially the Galmesh House in Sanctuary, several other farms and plantations around the city brew Jal for personal use and to be sold at market.

Jalesh or Jesh is a rice wine . Jalesh is “bottled” in 3 foot bamboo tubes with cork stoppers. Jesh is often fortified with spirits distilled from the kamkun, donga, and fig.

Rakka is fermented yaks milk, consumed from a goat or sheep bladder.

Mert is a distilled beverage made from fig. It is consumed from a shallow brass bowl heated over mertak a brazier designed for this purpose.

Kamurt is a distilled beverage made from Kamkun fruit which is similar to the mango. Kamurt is typically mixed with yak’s milk and is often consumed with yak cheese curd and fig for breakfast.

Dort is a distilled beverage made from the donga fruit which is similar to the pumpkin. Dort is often double refined to produce high alcohol content and mixed with sugar and a psychotropic herb mixture known as Oon’s Tounge, it is then drunk out of 7 stone beakers in quick succession.

Mert , Kamurt, and Dort are all produced in Sanctuary. The Houses of Galmesh, Tokenpol, and Salidani all run distilleries. Well to do estates and plantations will have their own distilleries and may sell excess to the market.

Red wines from Adia and Yarapolka can be found in Shulim. Adian wines are bottled in glass, Yarapolkan wines in wooden cask.
Samarajans do not export alcohol by law, and the Yebish favor opioids and psychoactive herbs not producing enough alcohol for it to be found outside Yeb villages.