Glossary

This glossary is about the magic and interdimensional effects, also about places, terms, abbreviations, machines, etc. in the TOBT universe. No character descriptions here, you find them on the character page instead.

 

Animated ectoplasm: Creatures created by ectoplasm. They are created out of ectoplasm and can have puzzling physical conditions. Many creatures described as ghosts or demons are in fact animated ectoplasm. Animated ectoplasm can be intelligent beings with an own personality, or a mindless void.

Animated transectoplasm: The typical example is the golem, a humanoid shape created from clay or other materials, but animated by ectoplasm. (or rather jahwe, in the original mythology.) Other examples are "posessed" objects like known in the horror genre.

Bad Moon Club: Also Bad Moon Soho, a club founded 1969 in London by a character known as Uncle Greedy. Ariane, Ritchie and Dr. Weisenstein were members. The Bad Moon Club had an own pdf. fanzine that appeared in 2006 in four issues. The fanzine was made into the webcomic Bad Moon aka Bad Moon Soho 69 in 2010. Ariane and friends were later send by N aka Nyarlothep on a mission in mid-victorian London and renamed Bad Moon London 1875.

Bakelitkörper: A diesel metal band that hired the Vaudeville Vendettas for their final tour.

Black & Blue Garter Club: A former somehow kinky club in Soho in Swinging London, run by Mr. Smutcliffe. Ariane worked there before she was fired.

Blockers: Also called Magic Blockers. One of two device types to protect against magic. Heavier and more expensive then diffussors, but more precise and stable. They work by transforming all magic actions into a harmless wavetype within a certain range. Common types are contacts, simples, stationaries and modulars.

Car demons: Car demons are demons in the shape of intelligent cars summoned from the plane of malevolent car demons. They do understand human language and have obviously telepathic and magic abilities, but they never bother to speak to humans. Summoned by a magician using the right ritual, they can be very helpful, though.

Chit & Chat Catfood: A catfood company that hired Ariane for commercials. Her salary is partly paid by free vouchers for cat food, and she got used to eat it by now.

Crossfire reflection: A traveller gets transported to another magic gate withing the same dimension by accident.

Doubles: Doubles are persons that coexist in several dimensions, sharing the same personality, appearance and skills, just adapted to their own world. Doubles are quite common, but usually not aware of their doubles, and it is extremly unlikely that they'll ever meet.

Dungelvon: The name of Ariane's race/ethnicity.

Ectoplasm: Mater created by magic energy, countless variations in shape, complexity and quality. Known in all physical states. Can be caused by any origin.

Ectoplasm golem: Not a golem in the hebrew tradition, but a creature produced from pure ectoplasm, turned into phyical matter.

Eldar-Aesir classification of interdimensional travelling: A system for describing multiverse gates and phenomens.

Eldritch Equinox: A printed newspaper for interdimensional travelling wizards and witches, available at Gatehoppers Inns and some multiverse societies.

Foul activator: Usually deranged electronics or other devices producing an unwanted trigger signal. A well known example is the infamous Orpheus pedal. A faulty electronic sends the trigger signal to open an exit to Oblivion's gate, since known as an abductor portal. The faulty circuit was used for some other effect devices, too.

Fractures: Interdimensional Fractures are areas that dissapear in a dimension and reappear in an otherone. Their appearance is often in combination with a catastrophe, creating a cross-over world of creatures and people from different times and parallel worlds.

Furnace Filters: Ariane's prefered cigarette manufacturer, some illegale producer in egypt.

Gatehoppers Guide: An electronic device, similar to the "Hitchhiker's Guide", that contains reports about different worlds that can be reached via magic portals.
Gatehoppers Inns. Places with informations for interdimensional travelers, often (but not always) located at active hotspots. Usually they are connected with a bar/cafe and a motel. Of course they only exist in multiverse societies. See also The "Iron Cruise" chain.

Gates: See "Magic Gates"

Homo Entekis: Hypothetic human species that is responsible for the legends about elves. Dungelvons is a genus of Homo Entekis.

Hotspots: Interdimensional Hotspots are either interieurs, buildings, landscapes or places of any kind that coexist in different worlds or dimensions. Passive hotspots are just coexisting, meaning that almost identical or at least similar places appear in often very different dimension, for example the Eiffel towers found in different cities, deserts, swamps, etc. There is not direct interaction between passive hotspots, although there are often portals in close range. A theory says that they are former active hotspots, places that actually merge between different dimensions. This means they act like being surrounded by a two-way portal, so that people from different worlds will actual meet in an active hotspot without using a portal, and they will each return to their own dimension as soon they leave the active hotspot. Not surprising, some active hotspots will appear as kind of a club or bar.

Interdimensional Travellers: Travellers are all kind of beings (not only humans) that use magic gates.

Iron Cruise: An interdimensional enterprise consosting of a chain of drive-inns, sometimes equipped with own shops, motels, discos and filling stations.

Lethe Absinth: Ariane's prefered absinth make.

Level control (LC): The maximum current a magic user can drain and process from any source. A low LC doesn't allow strong magic, even if the user is skilled.

Magic: Basically, a magician or magic creature/machine, transforms magic energy, either drained from a storage or magic background, and transforms it into any magic action. The way this is done does differ extremley and is usual depending on the world and its conditions, besides traditions, culture, etc.

Magic Artifacts: Magic artifacts are special devices used by magicians. Artifacts are defined by type, capacity, active/ passive dynamic and function.

Magic Artifact Type: Either Battery, Transformator or Compound.

Magic Artifact Capacity: Amount of magic energy it can store.

Magic Artifact Dynamic: Active dynamic: Amount of energy it can provide/ transform per second.

Magic Passive dynamic: Recharging energy per second.

Magic Artifact Battery Type: Stores magic energy uploaded by a magician or automatic device. Source for the energy is either natural background magic or another kind of battery.

Magic Artifact Transformator Type: Transforms magic energy provided by battery and/or magician.

Magic Artifact Compound Type: Combines battery and transformator in one unit.

Magic Form. This describes what is happening and into what the magic energy is transformed. Ectoplasma? Fire, water, air, earth? Illusions, hallucinations, pain, health, invisibility, levitation, telepathy, etc? The form is dependant and limited by the settings of the world the magic happens in.

Magic Gates/ Portals: Gates aka portals are interdimensional "wormholes", allowing to travel between different dimensions or parallel worlds. They are not to be confuzed with teleporters of any kind.

Magic Local Laws: All phenomena and sideeffects existing within a certain world. For example magic storms, unusal types of magic, or native magic creatures. These includes all kind of physically interacting gods that are more then a made-up metaphysical construction.

Magic Method: The way the magic is done, or the way the magic energy is processed. This includes the theory, the tradition, school, and basic concept. It can be done mentally, via spoken words, mimic, dances, rituals, etc.

Magic skills: The quality of practical skill and theorethical knowledge of the individual magic user. Divided into science of magic and practical magic.

Magic Transformators: Machines that transform magic energy into physical energy. Types are thermic, optical, acustic, electric, kinetic and ectoplasmatic.

Magic Windows: Similar to magic gates, but they only work visually, not physically. They can be used to look inside a different dimension.

MBE: the magic background energy. Ariane and other mages need a certain amount of MBE to do any magic at all. MBE is described in level, current, balance, regeneration rate and instability range/rate.

MBE level: decribes the maximum temporarily available amount of magic energy per m³.

MBE current: describes the total amount of available magic energy per m³. The MBE current is usually much higher then a single magician could drain.

MBE balance: describes the maximum variability of the MBE current within 10 m³ in percent.

MBE regeneration rate: describes the amount of time passing until a (theoretical) drained area has fully restored it's level.

MBE instabilty range: describes the maximum variability of either level or current of a defined area that has ever been recorded. A instability range of zero means that the unit is perfectly stable.

MBE instabilty rate: describes the amount of time passing from minimum to maximum of either level or current.

Morphoid: A certain type of ectoplasm golems, that are able of morphing into all kind of objects to protect themself.

Multileinsters: A measurement unit to describe the distance to other dimensions in a multiverse.

Multiverse societies: This are worlds or societies that are aware of the existance of multiverse portals.

Oak Collection: Bands that coexists with no significant variations (tolerance maximal 1%) in at least a 1000 Post Benjamin worlds.

Oblivions Gate: A world named after one of it's cities. It got some popularity for two magic portals that are activated by a certain type of faulty studio equipment, causing a high population of rock musicians.

Orpheus Pedal: See "foul activator".

Personal capacity (PC): The amount of magic energy the magic user can store without any additional artifacts.

Portals: See "Magic gates".

Post Benjamin Worlds: Worlds that do not only know how to record and reproduce sound and picture, but also have a kind of industry that make this recordings available to the public.

Ratcreatures: Beings that got popular with Lovecrafts (somehow inaccurate) description. Former human beings that were transformed into kind of anthropomorphic rats by a magic ritual in the very moment of dying.

Rocket 88: Ariane's favourite amphetamin. There's a less potent, but still dangerous version called 66.

Tar Pit Revue: A sinister kinky underground club in Soho, swinging London. Ariane hired there after she was fired by the Black & Blue Garter Club. The club was closed later by the police.

Theater Of The Big Punch: A mime group lead by Elric De Winter. After Ariane joined, it was transformed into the Theater Of The Bloody Tongue.

Total Theater Terror Troupe: A shortlived illegal underground mime troup founded by Ariane and three other actors after she left the Tar Pit Revue and before she founded the Vaudeville Vendettas. The TTTT, also known as the Four T Movement, went over the top with very controversal themes and played at secret places before a exclusive audience. Ariane is the only surviving member.

Transectoplasm: Mater converted or mixed by ectoplasma.

Vaudeville Vendettas: Before Ariane founded the Theater Of The Bloody Tongue, she founded a trio with two other girls that toured through europe with a show.

Whitechapel Gin: Ariane's prefered gin, made in the infamous Whitechapel brewery.

Z -Ro Law: The law says there's at least one dominant culture speaking english in every world with several portals.