The Rulebook was updated on 28th March 2012 to version 2.0.
Also on the forthcoming agenda - The Quest of Quests, a supplementary module comprising an entire
campaign which utilises this gaming system.
In the vaults of Cronodon, legends tell of a mysterious region in space, a pocket or fold in space
and time, a drop-out zone, only ever reached by accident, by miscalculations in starship
hyperspace navigation along certain routes. In this domain the laws of physics appear subtly
different to normal expectations. A number of worlds occupy this interspatial and intertemporal rift,
but one such orb encountered beyond this portal is well-documented as a world bordering on
'unreality', a world between worlds, a middle earth or midgarth, a 'twilight planet' over which
mysterious and ancient beings vie for power, a planet some call Terra Arcana, the Hidden Earth.
Project your mind to Terra Arcana and
vie with the Ancients for arcane
knowledge, power and lordship, or for
adventure pure and simple - play the
Arcane Game.
Learn about some of the mysterious beings
who vie for dominance on Terra Arcana.
Weapons and symbols of lordship, or
vain attempts to hold back the tide of
chaos?
Guardians of justice, or abusers of
power? Learn more about knights.
Dare you enter the Dark Side?
In many cultures across the Cosmos - artists and poets, mystics, philosophers and prophets have
had an interest, even an obsession, with the Dark Side. The Cosmos abounds with stories of
deities, demons and mighty heroes who oppose dark powers. To some it was merely a colourful
way of telling stories that conveyed more mundane truths or moral virtues or simply entertained;
to others it was a mysterious reality, a supernature of mysterious intelligences, including ruthless
tyrant gods, jealous, malicious or otherwise psychotic deities and demons, and perhaps very
occasionally a being of apparent genuine benevolance. Still others saw the deities, angels and
demons as personified and poetic expressions of natural forces, such as the Olympian gods of
ancient Greek myth, whom Socrates clearly understood to be poetic descriptions of natural
phenomena. Demons (or daemons) were originally envisaged as natural intelligences that
coordinate the various workings of the Cosmos, hidden from normal view. Over time these entities
became classified as deities, angels and demons. Yet others have argued that these stories were
semi-historical accounts of intelligent extraterrestrial beings, ancient races, who were actually far
from supernatural, or that they were evolved or created beings from hidden dimensions or other
universes. Perhaps such beings enter the mortal mind and feed upon its energies. Psychologists
and some religious scholars and mystics have seen these beings as expressions or even splinters
of human consciousness. Still others see in these ancient stories propaganda and rhetoric,
dressed to appeal to the sentient mind, like infectious memes; often the gods of one culture
became the demons of another, for it seems that all deities may be prone to fall from grace!
Whatever you consider them to be, and whatever you make of the Dark Side, heed my advice:
keep your feet on terra firma, stay grounded in reality as we know it, for the imagination is without
bounds. Not all is dark, for myths and legends often promise hope, or portray guardians of cosmic
order, keeping the darkness in check. When one journeys to the Dark Side, it may be that the
only monsters found are those one takes with oneself! Nevertheless, once the rules or laws of
science and Nature are dismissed in your mind, then there is no way of knowing where you shall
go! This requires courage, fortitude of will and clarity of reason and power of mind, for ever strive
to divide the known from the unknown, the real from the imagined. Otherwise, you risk joining the
vast hordes who have all but lost contact with reality! Your brain is not unlike a computer, many a
virus is waiting to hitch a ride within it! If you have no fear, then you have no need to be afraid!
The fundamental truth will always set you free.
According to H. P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, knowledge of the Dark Side, if indeed it is truly dark
in of itself, frequently leads to insanity! (I highly recommend this book, it's blend of science and
myth and the strange beings that result appeal to my taste!).
Dare you enter the Dark Side ... ?