Sulphur Skies
A dramatic alternate history of the race for dominance of the aviation world
The Backstory:
The year is 1919. The Wright brothers’ experiments in early aviation ended in tragedy, when they were burned to death, along with their experimental aircraft and blueprints, in the now infamous Kitty Hawk Arson of 1901.[1] Their revised lift equation never saw the light of day, and Otto Lilienthal’s lift equation remained the (fundamentally flawed) standard for engineers wishing to attempt powered flight for the first decade of the 20th century. There were many disappointments, not to mention several deaths and catastrophes, as other engineers worldwide attempted to solve the “flight problem”. Indeed, in the decade after the turn of the century, sceptics insisted that humans were simply not meant to fly, and that the cause should be abandoned.
Two events of the early 1910s drastically changed the engineering world. The Holbrook meteorite of July 19, 1912 caused devastation right across Arizona, and when California and Nevada’s state bureaucracies closed their borders, fearing an influx of desperate survivors that their economies could not afford, Arizona’s own economy collapsed to the point where the United States Congress was forced to revoke its membership as the 48th state until further notice.[2] The effect of the meteorite strike, and the subsequent economic downturn, was felt right across the US long past the Congressional expulsion of Arizona; the DJIA (Dow Jones) fell by a full 12% in value over the course of 30 days as the US government attempted to salvage the situation in their fledgling state, and only fully rebounded after three years of painstaking recovery. During this time, many critical aeronautical experiments in the other US states were crippled due to lack of funding.
Abandoned by the US government, the people of Arizona were forced to fend for themselves. The sky was covered in a dirty, sooty darkness for weeks afterwards, and the mortality rate in the days following the Holbrook meteorite strike reached around 92%. Tales of grim survival, cannibalism and the unnatural slowly reached the ears of the people in neighbouring states, and some of the luckiest survivors were able to escape the chaos across the eastern border into New Mexico. But none who survived were able to come away unscathed; they spoke in whispered tongues of how the former state of Arizona was now a deathtrap, and home to some of the foulest beings ever known to man. Indeed, some even spoke of beings that were clearly inhuman, but most have since written these rumours off as misguided by panic and stress.
Yet in the darkness of these times, a ray of light was soon to burst forth. Seemingly unhindered by the catastrophe of 1912, a young upstart engineer named Timothy Craig Archison stunned the world by unveiling and successfully test-flying a small airship in early 1913. Propelled by petroleum-fired engines and lifted by gas in the manner of a hot-air balloon, Archison conducted the first successful tests of his prototype airships in the Coachella valley in southern California, just a handful of miles’ distance from the western border of the former state of Arizona. The world was suddenly awakened to the possibility of human flight, and a crowd of thousands congregated in the valley to watch the first public demonstration of the airship’s capabilities.
Sensing his opportunity for immediate financial gain and immortality in the annals of history, Archison quickly applied for a US Patent on his design, and within weeks he alone held the key to opening the skies to the realm of human possibility. He quickly became one of the most powerful men in the world, as orders for airships came in from some of the foremost government and business leaders around the world. Scientists from the best universities in the United States and Europe flocked to his emerging empire in the hope of securing their own place in the history of human aviation, but Archison selected only a handful of the most brilliant and secretive scientific minds in the world as part of his plan to dominate the skies. In the years that followed, Archison used his position of financial dominance to buy out rivals with competing ideas, and used their scientific methods to further develop his own creations. Combat versions of the earliest airships proved difficult to stabilise, but were eventually realised in 1915. Kaiser Wilhelm’s continued faith in Archison’s combat airships proved to be a determining factor in Germany’s victory over the Allies in the Great War.
Five years after the young Timothy Archison made his pioneering flight into the realm of legend, Archison Aeronauticals LLC has unveiled its ultimate creation: the Zeus, an airship designed for fast and efficient transport of passengers across long distances. While the railroad takes around eight days to complete a transcontinental voyage, the Zeus is reputed to be so powerful that it can accomplish a voyage from Coachella to Beachmont (east of Boston, Massachusetts) in 50 hours.
As shareholders in Archison Aeronauticals LLC (or the family thereof), the players have been hand-picked by Timothy Archison himself to join him on the maiden voyage to Beachmont, which will function as a sweeping symbol of the company’s dominance of airspace worldwide.
Alternate History Footnotes:
[1] Just imagine the consequences of this; the airspace industry as we know it would almost certainly be at least ten years behind where it is now, hence my speculative pioneer flight date of 1913.
[2] In actuality, the Holbrook meteorite fractured into several thousand pieces and fell as debris onto the town below. In addition, the estimated weight of the meteorite was only 190 kg. This game assumes that the meteorite was able to strike as a single unbroken unit, and that its approximate weight was around 600 kg - enough to cause monumental devastation to the entire state and the immediate area around it.
The Challenge Ahead:
I would now like to put out a call for co-writers for this game. This is a random idea of mine that I believe could be blown out into a full weekend game for 20 to 40 player-characters if it has all the right elements of plot and player development going for it. Having only ever participated in one Ravenholme game before, I’m certainly not going to attempt to run this myself, but I envision a sword-based combat system with the option of pistols in certain situations (having anything more powerful than a pistol on board would be dangerous to everyone on an airship!). I would also like to see the use of a limited magic system, which would be used for influential and informational purposes only; that is to say, no physical damage is possible through magical means.
Being an age of incredible invention and scientific advancement, I would like to think that this game could become a franchise, with the results of this game directly affecting that which happens in the future. Greater Germany’s victory in WW1 will have dramatic consequences for the alternate history of future episodes, but at this point the United States is largely uninvolved in Europe’s affairs. Characters will be mostly of American origin, but there is plenty of room for operatives from Greater Germany and Le Resistance to be included in the game as well.
Most importantly, this game will give us a chance to get our Charleston on! I think Interwar fashion rocks, and since this voyage is a chance for the wealthy shareholders of Archison Aeronauticals to let their hair down and celebrate, people can feel free to consider the more ahem “risque” costumes of the period if they feel so inclined.
I have countless other ideas for this game, but they’re best discussed with writers rather than potential PCs. If you are keen on helping me out and writing this game with me, please send me a PM or an e-mail; I’d love to hear from you.