The Birth of a Meta Kingdom

(images not my own creation) If we're being honest, one of the most influential factions of the Metaverse will be none other than the Tau from WH40k. Representing the secularist ideals of recent history, they are all firmly grounded in their doctrine of the Greater Good. The Tau were a combination of caste system, secular humanism, and communism— though they scoff at superstition, they adhere to what they call the Greater good with religious fervor. It would all be easy to besmirch if they weren't at the cutting edge of technological advancement. The Tau enforce their presence on the Metaverse by claiming to represent unity, co-existence, scientific advancement, prosperity, efficiency, and enlightenment. Those who yearned to find something worthy of their devotion (yet rejected religion) were happy to align themselves with the Tau, otherwise known as The Cadre. They were religious adherents to a doctrine they believed would ensure a bright future, yet they specifically disavowe...

Artheus’s wife, Tylia, was herself a psyker on Artheus’s homeworld, with the gift of Empathy. Empathy, on its own, was the ability to feel what others were feeling. Tylia, however, as an Empath, could make everyone in her vicinity experience either her own emotions, or the emotions of someone in her vicinity. She knew at all times what Artheus was feeling, and if she concentrated she could make someone feel specific emotions from a great distance. They found it easy to love each other, for few others could perceive the trials of Artheus, and to Tylia no one else was half so interesting. They arrived in the Realm of Solaris, where Earth resided. Here, the meta conflict was thick and furious, and soon after their arrival they needed shelter from it. There was no sign of whoever sent them their distress signal. Conveniently, however, they were able to feed off the ley energies of some likely targets: fel Brutes, who sought glory, loot, and bloodshed, were easily justifiable victims— they ...

Magic and other mysterious powers notwithstanding, the metaverse was rife with individuals of every shape and size who had what was known as “psychic” ability. ‘Psychic' ability was a phenomenon where individuals, without the aid of arcane powers, were able to perform special feats using only their minds. These feats ranged from telekinesis, mind-reading, mind-control, hypnosis, precognition, psychic attacks, and other unusual abilities.  Psykers suffered everything from ridicule to murderous hysteria, and as such garnered an unspoken agreement amongst one another to put a stop to the persecution of psykers. Like it or no, all psykers had some degree of “mind-sharing” ability, although some psykers specialized in this ability alone. This “mind-sharing” ability allowed them to guide one another to do that which benefited other psykers, protecting one another and advancing the interest of psykers. When something happened that threatened the psi community, their linked brains would ca...

It was inevitable, given their extensive, powerful, and lasting presence in the metaverse, that greenskins, or more accurately The Horde, would enforce its claim on the fabric of reality. At that time when the bid for power began, there was a well-established and re-occurring meta-presence of these types of creatures. It seemed to be well understood that there was an alliance among orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and a number of beasts they seemed to have a natural affinity for.  Many denizens of the metaverse flocked to align themselves with this horde, which seemed to offer a vengeful alternative to those dissatisfied by the powers who represented law and order. Promising glory and wild freedom, many were those seduced by the savage beauty of The Horde.  Unbeknownst to the Horde at large, Artheus the Doll Mage, who was starved for ley energies, discreetly killed off small bands of the Brutes and collected the ley power that was released from their slain bodies. He knew he coul...

In actuality, even those who don’t have much imagination will experience the Meta, but probably not in a good way. In ordinary stories, boring people die and interesting people live. Loathsome people are punished, beautiful people are rewarded. The nature of Meta is that people can only contribute whatever is intrinsic to their own character. That means if you’re self-centered, the best you will be able to do is draw yet more attention to yourself— yet as the metaverse expands, people become more like the ultimate version of themselves… if you are boring, it will become more and more obvious that you are boring. If you are wicked, it will become more and more obvious that you are wicked. People will polarize into their various tribes and factions— Meta will eventually cause people to become the final version of themselves. That means if you are going to make peace or war with another person, faction, or tribe, it will take place in the Meta. Where is the evidence that we will experienc...

Wealth and power in the metaverse meant a stock of fresh, original, and engaging ideas. In a world pioneered by a young David Parker was the Far Kingdom, a nation of humanity surrounded by unique races of humanoids. In that kingdom was the Archduke Josef Chambry of Burnt Meadow. His sigil was an armored bear, and foolish were those who supposed him dim-witted because of his strength and size. His was of an ancient line of nobles dedicated to a spirit of fierce manhood, personal strength, valor, and power. Their House Words were: "Never say it twice." In some ages of the Far Kingdom, he controlled more fertile land than the King himself. Josef Chambry, being a Chambry who maintained the spirit of The Bear, would not be outdone by competitors of shameful origins, such as The Rat, or bizarre foreigners like the Doll Mage. He shrewdly set about claiming memetic control of bears of all kinds throughout the metaverse. Wherever a bear was involved, Chambry sought control, whether it...

Rumored to have entered the metaverse by sheer force of will, the character known as The Rat gained a foothold across the multiverse. In this context, the Multiverse refers to many individual worlds, whereas the Metaverse refers to everything existing in the same universe. As such, The Rat enforced his presence wherever there were rats, and had the ambition of uniting all of rodent-kind as a single, sovereign people. It was assumed by most that, because his species were always simply there to be exterminated, that The Rat would inevitably see his downfall against nobler denizens of the metaverse. Whatever their opinion, The Rat intended to use the assets he was given, which for the nonce was nominal authority over a numerous, shrewd, and tenacious animal. Silently the Rat would regard the boasting of other races, waiting patiently to strike when it seemed best to him. Would he squander his advantages, waiting for the right opportunity? It was against the nature of his species to risk t...

Even on his home planet, Artheus's form of magic was rare. Tyranel was a dying world, with scant inhabitants struggling to survive throughout its surface. When Tyranel thrived, Artheus distinguished himself as a Doll Mage and as an adept magic wielder besides. After a tragic history, Tyranel was all but completely desolate, and it was only because of his powers that Artheus survived. Artheus manipulated ley lines and ley energies, or the strings that connected all beings, to give life to his dolls, which were his children. Because he excelled at magecraft, he was able to survive the desolate world of Tyranel by collecting ley energies, which he consumed in place of food to keep he and his wife alive and youthful. They were left on subsistence living, and Artheus and his wife Tylia scried as best they could to find a suitable world to make their new home.  However, such magic was costly, and they barely had enough ley energies to survive, let alone open a portal to another world....

Basically, the metaverse is like a series of controlled experiences of suspended disbelief. You can create immersive experiences that will make your everyday life seem more interesting. For example, instead of an ordinary job, you could be a crewman on the Starship Enterprise. With enough controlled stimuli at the correct junctures, we can create the beginnings of these types of experiences. It seems unattainable when there are no participants, but take this for example: if you are at a gathering and everyone is having fun playing charades, then it is a matter of course that if you're not playing charades, you're left out. But if you're the only one who wants to play charades, you can't play charades. Meta experiences are similar: you are "hooked in" to other participants. Together, with a controlled suspension of disbelief, you can begin to participate in more palatable life roles. The most primitive form of meta is basically hypnosis. Participants are lured ...