PANDEMONIUM 2018

SUMMARY

In 2018, Pandemonium began with two major factions, The Sorcerer’s League and the Technocrat Union, in an armed dispute over the source of all the world’s magic. A secret third faction was revealed to be the antagonist of the story: The Men of Shadows.

The first battle of the 2018 event saw the two major factions fighting over a landing zone, and the third faction harassed both while completing side objectives. The end of the first game saw the Men of Shadows revealed as the true menace and a force to be reckoned with. Prior to the second battle of the 2018 event, the Sorcerer’s League and Technocrat Union joined forces to protect the Mage Tower in the City of Verdun, France. A hard fought battle saw another victory for the Men of Shadows and they had achieved their final objectives leading into the last game of the event...

The final battle of 2018 was an assault on the secret HQ of the Men of Shadows in the Metz Exclusion Zone. It was discovered by the newly formed Coalition of Man that the Men of Shadows were indeed attempting to complete a special ritual which would summon an Avatar of Cthulhu, the Dark One of R’lyeh from the works of author H.P. Lovecraft. The ritual was completed successfully during the battle and won the event for the Men of Shadows (now called the Shadow Legion).

It is important to note, that even after losing the first two battles, the Coalition of Man could still have won the final battle and event, and almost did, but were defeated at the last second by the summoning. Below are the write ups for each battle of Pandemonium 2018.

2018 CHAPTER 1: Battle at the Landing Zone

After a year of political turmoil on the world stage, perpetrated by mysterious sources and centered around the weakening of the world’s magic, the most powerful factions of the world brought their differences into an explosive confrontation.

Angered by the disappearance of his sister Nikita (Maureen Armstrong) and many other incidents months prior, the leader of the Technocrat Union, Tavros Tesla (Clint J Crawford), poised his troops to strike against the Sorcerers League. The League, an ancient organization of powerful mages sworn to the study and protection of magic and lead by a mythical warrior wielding the sword of Excalibur itself (Sherridan Edwards/Ben “Guardian” Amato), was all that stood between the Union and what magic remained.

On April 7th of the modern year, the Technocrat Union went to war. Using secret teleporters and his Grand Aerofleet, Tavros launched an invasion deep into France in order to seize the last known source of magic in the entire world. The Verdun Rift.

The assault did not go as planned however. Tavros Flagship, The Brazen, was brought down during the opening volleys of the battle by a powerful strike from an unknown source. When the massive airship crashed down, a hidden army emerged from the Exclusion Zone. The Men of Shadows had revealed themselves.

Tavros barely managed to escape the wreckage before the Men of Shadows overwhelmed the area. After linking up with his trusted General JarJar and rallying the remainder of his forces, Tavros resumed his assault on the Rift. The Men of Shadows had effectively split the battlefield down the middle and destroyed any airship or construct that dared stray too close to them with powerful rockets time after time again.

When the tide of battle was clear, the leaders of the Shadowmen (Jason Copeland, Christopher Long) reached out to the King of the League, offering them their allegiance in their fight against the Technocrats. The League reluctantly agreed due to their being outnumbered, but were betrayed in the last moments of the battle when the Men of Shadows detonated the magazine of Tavros’s ruined flagship, destroying a huge swath of battle-mages as a result. Afterward, a secret back-channel of communication was established between the League and the Union. A pact was made to unite the two forces against this new common foe. After this first betrayal by the Men of Shadows, The Coalition was formed.

2018 CHAPTER 2: Siege of Verdun

After the destruction of the Technocrat Armada and the betrayal of the Sorcerer’s League by the Men of Shadows, the newly formed Techno-Sorcerer Coalition had no choice but to fall back inside the great walls of Verdun to fight side by side.

When the army of the Men of Shadows breached the walls, intense fighting broke it in the city streets. Mayhem ensued with powerful spells and enchantments wreaking havoc on the battlefield. Amidst the chaos the great construct known as TROGDOR THE BURNINATOR managed to break through the south city gate and proceeded to rampage through the city streets. During the battle gas bombs were dropped by gyro-copters, magic missiles leveled entire city blocks, and players ran around the rubble convinced they were chickens after their minds were driven mad by the poultryizer!

The battle was very close, with both sides gaining and losing control of the city center and cathedral multiple times, but in the end the Men of Shadows just managed to win the day. The Coalition had no choice then but to enter THE EXCLUSION ZONE.

2018 CHAPTER 3: Into the EXCLUSION ZONE

The Men of Shadows revealed themselves and fought hard to defeat the combined forces of the Technocrat Union and Sorcerer's League, deep in the exclusion zone of Metz, France. During the battle they revealed their true goal of summoning an avatar of Cthulhu from the magically devastated ruins. In the aftermath of this epic battle, Mad Moriarty (Jason Copeland) and the Shadow Fox (Chris Long) cultivated an army of madness that the rest of the world has begun referring to as the Shadow Legion.

Now, with the fall of Paris and the capitulation of France, Cthulhu's forces have moved to expand his dark invasion. The Shadow Legion sets its sights on the next nearest western super-power...

The Battle of Britain was about to begin...

PANDEMONIUM 2019

SUMMARY

The Coalition of Man is on the run from the Shadow Legion, who are now armed with the powerful and mysterious Avatar of Cthulhu they have raised (*spoiler alert* It’s a Tank). The Shadow Legion fights to bring the world under the shadow of Cthulhu. The Coalition fights to stop them.

Clint “Bull” Crawford of Team Wetworkz returns to the battlefield as Tavros Tesla, President of the Technocrat Union and a leader in the Coalition of Man.Ben “Guardian” Amato of Team WARR returns to the battlefield as King Arthur, Master of the Sorcerers League and wielder of excalibur and fighting as a leader in the Coalition of Man. Christopher Long of Fox Squad returns to the battlefield as The Shadow Fox, one of the Dark One’s most powerful generals and a leader in the Shadow Legion. Jason Copeland of the 899th Blackcats returns to the battlefield as Mad Moriarity, the deranged professor who summoned Cthulhu in the first place and a leader in the Shadow Legion

Everything you do on the paintball field at Pandemonium matters. Your epic actions during the game will go down in the event history, for victory and defeat.

2019 CHAPTER 1: DARK exodus

The combined forces of the Coalition are on the retreat. The Shadow Legion is on the offensive. Scattered and surrounded, the Coalition attempts to save what and who they can for a retreat across the channel, scuttling what they can't to prevent the Shadow Legion from gaining more strength.

In the course of the battle, both sides inflict heavy losses upon the other. General Tesla and his sister Nikita managed to make it across the channel and back to Britain, but at a great cost.

2019 CHAPTER 2: THE RACE FOR STONEHENGE

The Shadow Legion crosses the channel and a magical rift has appeared on the ancient site of Stonehenge. The Sorcerer’s League understand that if an epic hero can activate ancient magical sites around the countryside, the Avatar of Cthulhu may be stopped and bound to the Earth beyond the English Channel, giving the Coalition Army a fighting chance during the coming Battle for London.

2019 CHAPTER 3: THE SIEGE OF LONDON

The Battle for London begins. Surrounded on three sides, the Coalition fights to prevent the British Isles from falling under the dominion of the Shadow Legion. If Britain falls, America falls within range of a Shadow Invasion. If Britain holds, the Coalition may be able to use the island to prepare a future counter-attack.

Pandemonium 2022

Two Years have passed since the Battle of London, when the Old One Cthulhu sent his Shadow Army to conquer Britain. Hard fought battles raged from the Southern Shore of England into the heart of London itself. The Technocrat Union led by Nikita and Tavros Tesla deployed in defense of their Allies, The Sorcerer’s League with a fleet of rigid airships and the most elite of Technocrat forces. The Sorcerer’s League, and indeed Britain herself, were bolstered by the resurrection of King Arthur wielding the mighty sword Excalibur. Together, this coalition repelled the Shadow Army of Cthulhu and destroyed his avatar by summoning an ancient protector of the British Isles. This victory came at a heavy cost, as Tavros Tesla was first captured, and then finally turned to the Shadow Army.

The retreating forces of Cthulhu returned to the heart of Europe to recover their losses and bolster their conquered lands, ever darkening in the grip of Cthulhu. Tavros Tesla has not been seen by any of the Technocrat spies sent into the dark continent, but there are whispers that he is now the architect of their battle plans.

The Technocrat Legion, and Sorcerer’s League have struggled to find allies throughout the rest of the world, but that may soon change.

For Two Years the Shadow Army has seemed content to dwell within France and the surrounding areas already conquered. But now dark forces are massing along the borders of Russia and it seems the Shadow Army is ready to strike out again…

Bez Imeni, Without Name. In a small cathedral on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, surrounded by broken land, the Sorcerer’s League has dispatched a small contingent to safeguard the Effigy of Bez Imeni. There are no legends or myths that tell the origin or purpose of the statue, rough cut in the shape of what may have been a maiden in ages long past. Local superstitions mention that it is a place of awe and reverence, but the Sorcerer’s have identified it as the capstone of a major wellspring of magic, and potentially another buried guardian like the one discovered at Stonehenge. However the league has no knowledge of the artifact, and if it were meant to be used for good or ill. They have vowed to guard it’s neutrality and prevent its capture or use… by anyone.

The Eastern Border of Estonia: The Mad Professor Moriarty, escorted by a large force of Chtulhu’s Shadow Army has gathered with Tavros Tesla at the vanguard, seething and waiting, readying for the inevitable push into Russia, St. Petersburg, and the area where Bez Imeni stands. We can only assume that they mean to capture another magical nexus to empower their army of conquest further into the East and fuel the legions of Cthulhu…

Moscow: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, former consul to the Tsars, seemingly immortal wizard, author of Russian Technomancy and suspected architect of the Technocratic Federation of Russia, has lived for over an age at the shoulder of Russian leaders leading the Tsar Nicholas through the dawn of the new age at Verdun. From the revelation of magic to the world, Grigori and Nicholas ushered Russia into a new age of industry and a form of democracy paired with Technomancy unique to Russia and her peoples. Nicholas has been gone nearly 100 years now, but Rasputin has remained through the decades to advise Mother Russia and her development into the new millennium. The Duma has given Grigori full authority to lead the Russian defense of St. Petersburg at all costs. Rasputin is no hero like Arthur, he has a reputation of meeting ends, no matter what means are required and is rumored to dabble in dark magics, even experimenting with the powers of Chtulu and the Old Ones… allegedly. Over the decades his dedication to Russia has been proven time and again, he will stop at nothing to defend the Motherland, and no resource is off limits. While Nikita Tesla has vowed to deploy to Russia in defiance of Cthulu’s Army, Rasputin will not wait or take counsel from her, preferring that she focus her forces on killing or rescuing Tavros Tesla…

Pandemonium 3 will see a conflict between the Federation of Russia and Cthulu’s Shadow Army over the monument of Bez Imeni and various control points around St. Petersburg. Many other individuals may have their own interests in the monument and surrounding area, so expect to meet exciting personalities (NPCs) on the field of play who may have missions and quests that can provide powerful resources.