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you might shift into times in which English doesn’t even If they claim the flag, though, they’re masters of their own
exist yet, becoming a polyglot quickly might save your life. destiny. They might be able to get back to the moment when
Escalation they left, but what if the flag deposits them in a despotic na-
tion on the verge of a massacre (Proposition 279, p. 223)?
Maybe their experiences with death make them ideal ghost
The characters might be able to convince Triage to return whisperers, ready to sell their services to a beleaguered region
them to their rightful place, in which case they might not (Ghost Machine, p. 207). Or, perhaps their travels through
even remember that anything happened (or, if you want to space lead them to even stranger vistas (Urban Wandering,
have a tragic story, they might all die in combat and wish p. 235).
they could shift in time again, just before their lights go out).

URBAN WANDERING

The ability to “citywalk,” traveling from one urban center Interchangeable Parts
to another without crossing the distance between them, is
as old as the cities themselves. The knowledge of how to do The characters can be anyone living in any city in the
it has always been kept secret. But now, as the number of world, but they should all be people who have lived in at
people with that knowledge increases, some of these people least three or four different cities. They might be members
accidentally find their way to a mist-covered realm inhabited of some cult or society that has learned how to citywalk, or
by nightmare creatures…who follow the citywalkers back. they might be people that have figured it out for themselves.
Infrastructure Blueprints

Citywalking has been possible for centuries, but the Within a week or two, dozens of people have learned to
knowledge was proprietary. Individuals could work out how reliably walk or drive between cities. Soon after this, they
to do it with practice and the right texts, and various secret begin telling others about it, in person, in blog posts, and
societies taught the ability to their most trusted members. But even in online videos, where people show off this ability.
now, someone’s leaked the secret — and people are finding Most people don’t believe it, of course, and lack the spiritual
out exactly why it was never widespread. fortitude to try it, but the ability spreads.
Individuals all across the world begin accidentally walking Many of these new citywalkers, though, don’t possess the
from one city to another without passing through the space skill to do it safely. They wind up in the nightmare realm,
in between. At first only a few people can do this, but anyone and lead the hideous creatures therein back.
can learn this ability if they are shown or hear a detailed The number of violent murders increases and a growing
description of the method. People think about a city they number of people report catching brief glimpses various
previously lived in while walking or driving, and begin seeing strange and horrific creatures after dark. These creatures are
locations that look like that other city. Sometime between nocturnal monsters that look like distorted people between
five and 30 minutes later, the person finds themselves in two and 10 feet tall. All of them are good at hiding and most
this other city, even if it is many thousands of miles away or prey upon humans. Going out after dark becomes increas-
across an ocean. In time, people can learn to travel to any ingly dangerous.
city they have ever visited or even places that they have seen If nothing is done, a growing number of monsters invade
clearly in videos or documentaries (TV dramas and movies the world, and eventually the connections between these
rarely provide accurate views of cities and so are not useful). nightmare worlds and the human world become so strong
The Truth: The ability to citywalk is a side effect of the that large areas of the world are either transformed into por-
logical Infrastructure built into cities in general. The very tions of the nightmare realm or become a haphazard mixture
concept of a “city” carries with it a certain semantic and of the normal world and the nightmare realm.
conceptual weight, and by following that concept, a person
learns to citywalk. Why is it becoming more commonplace Linchpins
now? Possibly because the population density in cities is get-
ting higher; if cities have spiritual “weight,” some of them While the characters are citywalking, all of them have the
are getting heavy enough that even untrained people can same vision. A humanoid figure with wings made of mercury
sense that weight. The God-Machine isn’t responding to this appears before them. It shows them, reflected in its wings,
issue immediately since it’s just piggybacking on an existing the nightmare realm, and tells them that the creatures are
Infrastructure, but the nightmare creatures following hapless hungry. Unless they are prevented from accessing Earth once
citywalkers home need to be addressed. and for all, they will overrun the human race.

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