Tyranny of Apathy

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*"Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and*

*begged you not to leave because I'd go berserk?*

*Well, you left me anyhow and the days got worse and worse*

*And now you see I've gone completely out of my mind!"*

- "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!", by Napoleon XIV
The **Tyranny of Apathy** is a Major Faction that originates from a collapsing timeline, and seek to dominate and destroy this new world that they've discovered. Originally a relatively normal timeline, the discovery and forced opening of the so-called *TIMESLASH* in the closing days of the 1960's changed that forever. The *TIMESLASH* tore through this timeline, compressing and warping almost 12,000 years of history into a single state. The world was in ruins, madness, chaos and violence ruled, and from the ashes, a slew of new world Tyrannies arose. One of these, the self titled Tyranny of Apathy unfolded its wings on what was once the United Kingdom, making use of the remnants and twisted mockeries of the Island's past, and soon - they began to conquer. Anywhere the Old World before the *TIMESLASH* was fare game for Apathy, but they have and have had contenders to this, with similar groups arising in the USA, France, China, Germany and even in the quagmire of violence that they Levant had been melted into. Now, perhaps to save its own skin, or perhaps due to their madness, the Tyranny of Apathy has set its sights on the conquest of an new Earth - one touched by both war and madness, and one that would be the perfect breeding ground for the troops they need to conduct their next series of wars, Wars against Avalon, the Concordiat, and even their fellow Tyrannies...

The Tyranny is fundamentally insane, driven to that point via the unnatural energies of the *TIMESLASH*, and only augmented by the torturous experimentation that their leader - Damien Quartz - forces upon them, and many of their soldiers have been warped and mutated via the unnatural energy that flows through the *TIMESLASH*, and they now possess abilities that are more akin to magic rather than science as the common man in this world will tell you. But, in all honesty, that doesn't matter now...

## At a Glance

 **Motives** | Destruction, Rebirth, Chaos, Death

## Background

And you wanna know why it doesn't matter?

Because I'm working the Tyranny of Apathy now! Name's Damien Chesterfield Quartz, and I lead this Tyranny. Please ignore the spiel that some cretin wrote above, 'cause I'm going to tell you all about my madhouse crew. Sit tight, chappers - it's gonna be an interesting ride.

### Things are Getting Weird

Let me paint you a picture here - November, 1969. It's a cold day, and some science nerds in Geneva are just about to preform an experiment that could change the future of mankind. Nixon's in charge, that noise you lot call 'Paradox' has no bearing, and I hadn't even been born in my home 'branch' at this point. All in all, good times. Anyway - what these scientists were doing was experimenting with an anomaly they found. Some Roswell bull or what, they thought - although, truth be told, I think it was caused by the idiots in the Paradoxbranch, or possibly the Avalonbranch [Censored]ing about with cross-branch hijinks, or something. That's not important. What is important is that their experiment went off without a hitch.

Yep. How anticlimactic's that?

But it gets better, right? Of course it does, chief! Would I lie to you?

Well, I would lie to you, but that's not the point. And by better, I mean everything goes ***HORRIFICALLY*** wrong. Hilariously wrong, but [Censored]ing horrific, if you're not dead on the inside - like me. Anyway. Back to topic. So, this experiment was to investigate this anomaly, yeah? Well, they investigated it - managed to even open a little bit of it, poke their nosy faces through the door, as well. See, they had the thing stable, yeah - as stable as a hole in the very fabric of space, time and the universe could be. Which isn't very stable, to say the least. Well, thing is - it *was* stable, and then...

***BOOM!***

That's the noise of an explosion, chaps, no need to be alarmed. Yeah, there was an explosion - turns out that their safe measures to stabilize the anomaly weren't that safe at all. Thing when critical, and then exploded - I think we're talking the force of two Tsar Bombs at the epicentre. That's why there's a giant new lake in the middle of Europe now. Millions dead - or rather, 'crooked'. Neither dead nor living. It's [Censored]ing funny, that's what it is! You should see the horrors you can hunt on those lake shores. Heh, you wouldn't believe that they were once human, what with all the rampant, rapid mutations, the complete reversal of death itself, and some other noise that I'm going to save for later. Man, you ain't lived until you've skewered a snow creature made of living energy that looks like a crab, knowing full well that it was once a hapless Swiss [Censored].

But...It doesn't end there. It just keeps getting better. So, this anomaly went critical, and guess what?

The anomaly blew up - this time in a less literal sense. It created the worshipful *TIMESLASH*; the most beautiful and deadly thing in existence - unless you count that fop they call the Icon, or whatever. The *TIMESLASH* - and yes, it has to be written like that every time - is literally a tear in the fabric of reality, although it wasn't till I started [Censored]ing about with it a few years back that we discovered that it could change reality. Hence why it's called the *TIMESLASH* - we thought it could only affect time at first. And boy, did it affect time alright.

I mean, I can't describe how [Censored]ing beautiful the aftermath of the *TIMESLASH* is. Twelve - I emphasize that, **Twelve** - thousand years of history, suddenly concertinaed - that's a word, right? - into a beautiful package of human suffering and complete anarchy. Well, kinda anarchy - it's hard to explain, really. Anyway, yeah.

12,000 years of human history, ending in 1969, compressed into a single state. Let's just say that the cretins of this world didn't take too kindly to this. Yeah, they kinda went bat[Censored]. Madness, chaos and some other similar words flow freely. Think about the stuff I mention about the Ground 0 in Geneva - now times a hundred, expand to the whole world and almost 4 billion idiots, then times by a lot - let's say 41. Add about 90 billion more people, or something, and boom! You got the state of the world when I show up.

But yeah, the place was a mess - still is, but I tell them it'll get better - more on that later - and, well, there's a lot of weird [Censored] running around here. Anyway - on to something a bit more important, shall we?

### Are You There G\*d? It's Me, Damien!

Oh God, did the cretin before me really refernce that bloody Judy Blume novel for a cheap jab? Christ...Anyway - time to talk about the greatest thing ever - Myself!

As you know, I'm called Damien Chesterfield Quartz. I like long walks in the forest, my favourite movie is Plan 9 from Outer Space, I'm a aficionado of small pastel horses, you can call me Jasmine on the weekends, I can fit my whole fist in my mouth and I may or may not be *technically* insane.

Oh, and I also rule these [Censored] [Censored] that call themselves the citizens of the Tyranny of Apathy, where I subjected them to any form of horror that I can imagine, for no reason than I [Censored]ing love to see others suffer in the worst ways possible. Really gets my rocks off, you know?

Of course you do.

As you can probably tell, I'm not from around here. Nah, chief. I come from somewhere else. Memory's hazy, but - let's just say, 'future, not from here, definitely **not** from the Paradox, Concordiat, Avalon, all the other [Censored]ing branches or whatever. I'm will tell you that I come from Boston, England, though. That's all.

Now, before I succumb to the urge of gushing my life story about how I had a dog called Henry, how I used to collect butterflies, and how I slashed my kid brother's throat over a game of chess when I was sixteen (**spoiler**: He died, hilariously!), I should tell you about how I came here, and how I came to rule the Tyranny of Apathy.

So, it turns out that the *TIMESLASH* had some...extra-dimensional effects, outside of the Apathybranch (Are we *really* calling it that? Whatever). One day, I was just chilling under an oak tree (don't ask), and the next thing I knew, I was in the Apathybranch. Now, I know that sounds sudden, and poorly explained, but trust me - I'm doing a better job explaining it than that cretin who wrote the intro to this page could, so bear with me here.

Well, At first - I was scared, sure - I'll admit it. Little seventeen year old Damien Quartz was scared. The place was crazy. At first, it was actually a bit off putting - the mutants, the rampant amounts of undead soldiers from the past, some weird eyeball monster that kept following me around - it was really...intense, shall we say. But...when I was found by some cretin that called themselves the Iron Duke, whoever that is, and I was escorted to London.

And they made me God-Emperor. No joke. I show up, and they make me God-Emperor.

God-Emperor Damien Chesterfield Quartz the Great and Powerful, Lord of London, conqueror of Apathy, Master of Ceremonies for the Apathetic Lodge, et al, et al. Anyway, turns out that I wasn't the only one to be snatched and brought to the Apathybranch. At the point of my arrival, the Americans, Japanese, French and Persians had all gotten 'normals' appear in their lands. As such, us normals got fast tracked to being the leaders of wherever we showed up! And the cretins of my Tyranny of Apathy now eat up everything I throw at them or tell them to do. Swim in the acid seas? Done. Kamikaze yourself of the Black Dover Cliffs? Right away, sir. Strap yourself to a rocket, go to the moon and paint a giant pug face on it? Don't you worry, we've got that sorted for you, God-Emperor Damien...

It's good to rule, never being able to age, able to do whatever I want, and constant war to satisfy my ever increasing bloodlust and madness. Time flows differently here, you see - but, eh, I'll explain that to you later. Trust me on this. All will be revealed, maybe. Anyway - time for my least favourite subject - the other [Censored] of the Apathyverse, and how they keep stopping my plans and all that noise.

### I Believe It All is Coming to An End

Is that subheader a reference to a Matchbox Twenty song? Sweet! Man, you do not know what it's like to be stuck listening to [Censored] 60's songs that have shepard's tone added as a backing noise. Anyway...where was I?

Oh yeah, not talking about myself. Joy.

So, as I was saying, before I got sidetracked, I ain't the only chief stolen away from wherever they'd come from. Japan, Germany, France, America, Finland, Israel, Iran, India, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Poland, Italy, Egypt, Greece and, er, what-do-you-call-it? The ones in - ah! Mongolia! Yeah, those [Censored] all have normal guys as leaders, and spend their days attempting to make my brilliant plans fall through.

Of course, they're failing! They have restraint! They think they can reason; they don't seem to realize the nature of this world - and I'm [Censored]ing glad for that! I realized soon after I arrived and ascended, the real nature of this world! The dead walk, the living are caught betwixt the living and decaying worlds, and I can alter the very fabric of this world's reality itself!

This is Hell, you morons. And I'm the [Censored] Lord of Dis! Hah, my name's more appropriate than most then, eh? I'm the tamer of these lands.

There was an Alliance against me, as I salted the Earth before my undead and mechanical troops. Currently, they've only got a couple of small holdouts - The Metropoli of Berlin, Thinis, DC and Nanjing are ocean breakers to my troops...

But not for long.

They'll fall, chief. I'll have the leader's cooked up and thrown to my generals for dinner, and then, this Earth will be mine, and mine alone.

Oh, I can tell the look you're probably giving me, and what you're probably saying: "Oh, Damien! You haven't explained [Censored] about the Apathyverse, how you got here, or even the apparent giant war of you throwing undead soldiers at them until they fall down! And why do you have undead troops? Where did the mechanical soldiers come from? Eh?"

Shut up. I'm not an encyclopedia - I'm a [Censored]ing God-Emperor. I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you. You want an explanation? Go bother the cretin that wrote the intro, and not me. You'll find him on his page, if he's not too busy [Censored]ing rewriting the BUAC again.

...Sorry about that. I get a little too worked up sometimes. Let's just move on, and forget about that, yeah?

Anyway...Yeah - Alliance is falling, I'm gonna rule the world, yadda, yadda, yadda.

And that brings us up to date with affairs in the Apathybranch.

**BUT WAIT!**

I have more plans than to just rule this new, destroyed Earth. Plans I think y'all gonna love, chief. By love, I mean appalled and horrified. Stay tuned.

### How'd You Think We Got On, When We Reached the Promised Land?

Okay, [Censored] that cretin. Matchbox Twenty - I'm fine with. I like them. But the Proclaimers? The [Censored]? I am not cool with this. Not at all.

Anyway...My plan, yeah? It's a really simple plan. A magnificently simple plan. In fact, it's a plan so magnificently simple, that I wonder why no one else in the Apathybranch has ever thought of going through with this. So, you wanna hear my brilliant, amazing plan?

I'm going to kill everything.

Paradox...Concordiat...Avalon...Tendriculous...Pugverse...my homebranch...all of them! I'm going to kill them all, and have their walking corpses swell the ranks of my armies. And then, once I have multiple Earths under my control...I'll turn my attention to the Aliens. Take their technology, and then their lives. Render their homeworlds barren, just for sport! And then, I'll find other branches. And my hordes will keep expanding.

Stripping lives and materials, everywhere we go. I'll kill all life untainted by the *TIMESLASH*, until I'm the only one left that's untainted!

Why? Well, for [Censored] and giggles, that's why! I'm a God-Emperor!

*I. AM. DAMIEN. CHESTERFIELD. QUARTZ.*

I am a God.

I'll ravage Paradox to dust, just because I can. Nothing can stop me. Nothing *will* stop me.

I see everything. I have the *TIMESLASH* on my side. I have armies that never stay dead!

Anyway...stay tuned, chief. The show's about to start. And you don't want to miss a [Censored]ing thing, now, do you?

Not when it would upset your old pal, now, would you?

## Unique Faction Mechanics

**Won't Stay Dead:** Now, turns out that all the infantry troops that I have under my command won't actually stay dead. Or rather, they'll resurrect themselves after the first time some gormless soldier puts them down. Second time, however, not so lucky, I'm afraid. Second time they die, they stay dead. Well, actually, it's a bit more complicated than that, but I'll explain it later.

**Flesh, Blood and Steel:** Now, vehicles on the other hand won't start moving again when they get exploded. Instead, a handful of special weak infantry units will bust from the destroyed shell like maggots, ready to die for me. Weak units, but perfect for slowing the enemy down.

**Time Slashed:** Due to our affinity with the *TIMESLASH*, our buildings will spread its corruption slowly across the field. This corruption will cause enemy soldiers to slowly take damage as they advance in to our territory, and it causes my soldiers to slowly regenerate health. See where I'm going with this? Yeah - more buildings = more *TIMESLASH* Corruption = slowly and painfully dying enemies and happy Apathy soldiers. You dig?

**£5 Admission to Bedlam, Sirrah!:** As you know, it takes money to send [Censored] to the battlefield. More so with my soldiers, due to the nature of where we come from. This means that the price for each of my soldiers will gradually increase with each new one purchased. Usually in increments of five or ten, normally. This means that, unfortunately, the long a battle drags on, the more costly it is for my to continue my assaults. Good thing most my infantry start off very cheap, eh?

## The Court of Madness

*"Wanna run it the Flagpole, and see who salutes it?"*

-Me, making a stupid reference to a Harvey Danger song.