recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Eric

Eric Eiko is the head Thaco expert in Valhalla, and he runs the Tailor shop.

Eric was one of the original developers of Thaco armor in the 2200s. He worked for RAND in attempting to develop the ultimate battle armor, but his designs were deemed too complex for mass production and too expensive to justify when the world hadn't seen a genuine war in almost 100 years.

The designs however were spotted in 2212 by C Team during a routine hack on RAND, and with them was a review of Eric Eiko recommending firing him. C Team altered the recommendation to be certain he was fired. On his way out of the office, C picked him up and brought him to Valhalla, offering him full support for life and the chance to make his designs real. He accepted immediately and left the NAW behind. Working with infinite funds, he further developed his armor designs to include a link interface, chromatophores and nicer boots.

Eric is married to Kale Grass and has two children with him. He also owns the only cat in Valhalla, Nix.

## Spoilers

Eric and Kale departed Valhalla with their children during the Evacuation of 2232 prior to Wulfgar's arrival and they headed for Luna Base. On Luna, Eric further developed Thaco armor with new vacuum features including miniature hall thrusters.

In 2235 he was approached by (Spoilers) and asked to incorporate his space Thaco into their usual garb.

Eric's younger son, Leif, took over for his father in 2249 and continued to develop greater and greater armor for Luna Base and (Spoilers).

## Behind the Scenes

Eric was named Toki in the first edition, his name and speech style being a reference to the character from Metalocalypse. Together though these left the realm of reference and entered the realm of "dude that's just too much" so his name was changed for the second edition. "Eric" comes from a different Metalocalypse character, Eric von Wiechlinghammer, the band's one-time fashion designer.

His last name, Eiko, is an homage to costume designer Eiko Ishioka.

Lief is named after Leif Erickson.

Nix is named after the villain from Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions.
Captain Preston

Captain Preston is the captain of the Lampyrid, an orbital cargo vessel. He was hired in 2232 to deliver Gristle in a crate to UNEGA 07. He was paid 1,375,000 euros for the mission.

## Behind the Scenes

Lampyrid is the taxonomic name for the Firefly, also the name of a sci-fi show being referenced in the scene.

His crew members Burke and Samno are named for Character in Star Trek 6
Guardthings

Guardthings are battle organics used by the Yakuza on Mars. They have many teeth, six legs ending in two ten-taloned feet each, numerous eyes, ears, and nostrils, several tusks and like a starfish, a central stomach orifice surrounded by sharp fangs. Their weakness is the nerve cluster on the tops of their backs, which is protected by carbon-fiber grown bones.
Cyberspace

Cyberspace is the navigable region of the net, accessible and immersible via link. One can select their own avatar, gravity settings and more.

The nets are still vast linked computers and servers and the like. They still use binary and code characters and even HTML in some places, but more often a type of code that works somewhere between VRML and the synaptic impulse patterns responsible for sight and hearing.

It includes:

The Nikkei

The Nikkei Undernet

The Black Crag
Electronic antibiotics

A-antibiotics are a form of nanotech, miniscule grown organisms that can be controlled by electronic signals to target bacteria. These can reproduce on their own within a few limits, but they have almost no telomeres so they can only last a certain amount of generations. The technology for them is incredibly highly guarded by the medical industry for proprietary reasons and nobody has managed to forge anything like it yet. This poses a danger as if the few companies that manufacture them go out of business, the world will enter a second post-antibiotic age in which common formerly treatable diseases can kill people.
Cobalt Thorium G

Cobalt Thorium G is a severely poisonous substance that can be destroyed by fission, but not fusion or conventional warheads.

## Spoilers

Veikko claimed a dispersal device of such a material was located on Kvitøya in order to get Valhalla nuked.

## Behind the Scenes

The name of the device and substance is that of the doomsday device from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.
GAP

The Greenwich Antipacifists were a gang most active from 2203-2209. Believing that war is a natural part of evolution and that humankind had stagnated since the peace after the last war in 2124, the GAP attempted to start wars by attacking people throughout London. Though they were decimated by the police and Valhalla, travelers in the London Underground are still warned to be mindful of the GAP.

## Behind the Scenes

As of 2015, all trains on the London Underground tell passengers to "Mind the gap" between the train and the station platform.
Churro

Churro is the senior member of Calc Team. He comes from Tijuana, where he was known as the coldest, most bitter man in town. His name was originally Reinaldo, he had no last name. His Tikari is a flea/knife, and his armor is olive drab. His avatar is a chess rook.

## Behind the Scenes

Churro's bitterness is a counterpoint to his name, which is a sweet, delicious treat. Like they're the best things ever, they're like cinnamon and sugar and some kind of dough and they're fucking amazing I could live on the things. They were the only good thing about my trip to Tijuana when I was like five years old. So the sweetest thing in Tijuana became the most bitter man from the same. Funny how writing works out. But try a Churro they're AMAZING.
Dispersion Toilet

A dispersion toilet is a toilet that converts urine and feces directly into energy that goes into the power grid. They have safety controls so that they'll turn off or reject matter before dissolving living flesh, but these controls are surprisingly easy to remove.

People still use paper to wipe.

The common toilet of 2230's safety measures are set to recognize the composition of anything that tries to enter them. Typically these are set to reject anything that is not urine, feces or toilet paper. Such objects will bounce off the field, as it will turn upon recognition from a dispersion field into a repulsion field.

The recognizer is actually one of the most advanced, though reliable systems on Earth as of 2230. Because fecal matter contains all kinds of bacteria and maintains human body warmth for a moment after it departs the body, it would normally register on most scans as living organic matter. Thus a great deal of experimentation had to be done to separate feces from proper human tissue, and other substances that may fool the system, such as Shinola Shoe Polish. The shit detector functions with 18 different aspects of fecal detection, including bacterial proliferation, lack of pulse, exuded particulate matter, and several advanced lipid and cellular detectors that can not only determine what kind of crap you’re disposing of, but diagnose most gastrointestinal problems before they become serious.

The history behind the toilet safety measures is not all flawless however. The first series of Disperse-O-Matic Electircal Field Toilets by Duravit Jr. lacked vomit recognition, resulting in the great backspray of 2201. Similarly, the Toto brand Fec-Ease Movement Annihilator failed to meet the TSM-IV (Toilet Safety Measure 4) fecal diagnostic manual of 2204 and could not recognize cohesive andropogonic particles and superheated any such corn bits until they popped, resulting in many surprised customers as they defecated only to find their rumps battered by popping pop-corn.

But in general, by 2230 the safety measures are flawless and nobody has reported a problem with them since 2228 when Richard Leicester Lester of Baton Rouge tried to throw out some dryer lint in a Plunkett Logjam 6000 and produced a smoke cloud that made him cough for half an hour.

## Spoilers

Violet uses one to dissolve Hrothgar's head.

## Behind the Scenes

The technology is straight out of Asimov's Foundation series, as is the mention of an ozone smell when used.
Skadi

Skadi is a member of Sowilo Team. She was born Karrie Huma Arliss in Suomi in 2210. Her Tikari is a fly/knife, her armor is yellow and red striped, and her avatar is a rock giant. She is well over six feet tall.

Skadi and her team ran a mission against Gang Green in 2229 in which they killed twelve of its members. In early 2230, one of the monitoring devices from that mission reported new material. It was a boy named Loki who had tracked down The Hall of the Slain and wanted in. They turned the matter over to G Team and soon after, Loki was in the ravine and named Veikko.

## Spoilers

He constantly tried to make Skadi laugh. She knew that ever since he spotted her showering outside the gym he had a crush. She didn't find him hard to look at either, but he was clearly a creature of humor and Skadi had absolutely none. She had never laughed, not even as a child. But Veikko persisted. Finally in mid 2230 he told a joke that made her laugh out loud and the two were inseparable ever since. She enjoyed squeezing him so tight it broke his ribs. Oddly, he enjoyed having them broken.

In 2232, after Veikko returned from Mars, he was taken by the Geki. When he came back he did so to kill Balder. In doing so he also killed Sigvald and Snot. He sent Skadi a link dump after Balder's death explaining everything, hoping to win her over to his side. Be he had killed her brothers. He had betrayed the ravine. She went to find him in Arcolochalsh, and found the place in flames. She knew he was dead within. She walked slowly into the fire.

Rescuing Veikko's body, she took his remains to Dr. Niide and had him installed in an A-1 system. Using his new body to secure the crumbling ravine, she made him aware that his absence or death would result in the end of the world. She then microwaved her chest and died.

Orson ate her body.

## Behind the Scenes

Skadi is named for a giant in Norse mythology who never laughs, until Loki makes her by tying his balls to a goat.
Ballard Heights

Ballard Heights is an arcology located in the Texark desert. Fully self contained, the arcology includes four ziggurats of 180 floors each, all connected by a network of skyways. It houses nearly one million people.

Both Hati and Épinard Quiche work as administrators of zones within the arcology.

## Behind the Scenes

Ballard Heights is named for author J.G. Ballard, who wrote "High Rise," a story about a building facing a similar class war to that depicted in Guðsríki.
Breluga the Elder

Breluga the Elder was a Cetacean artist who contributed wood carvings to the Pluturus Armada. He was killed by a human in 2197, shot to death while visiting a land museum displaying his works. He was shot eight times, then stabbed in the chest with one knife and beheaded by another.

## Behind the Scenes

Breluga's name is a spoof of Pieter Bruegel The Elder and a type of whale. His manner of death is identical to that of Theo Van Gogh.
Ares Project

The Ares Project was a terraforming experiment that used the ravine as a testing grounds. It involved the use of fat water to enhance Martian ice to melt and expand to flood potential Martian oceans.

It began when Valfar invented fat water, a subatomically modified type of water that takes up three times the space as regular water and cannot freeze. The application in terraforming would be that all the ice on Mars could turned liquid and there would be three times as much of it. Fat water can form a chain reaction given the proper incentive, so Valfar calculated the amount necessary to start the reaction on a global scale.

The company that owned Jamaica and thus Valfar's research also owned the Ares Corporation, so they combined the two and sent them to Kvitøya, an island in their ownership that best matched the conditions on Mars. This was unwise in Valfar's opinion, as an Island is surrounded by the ocean. The problem being, if the chain reaction ever happened to Earth's ocean, the planet would flood completely over. So Valfar pestered Snorri constantly about the fail-safes to see that it could never happen on Earth.

Enough fat water was created to sustain a global reaction on Mars (or Earth) and the YGDR S/L power plant was built to deliver the necessary kick to start that reaction. The company soon ran low on funds however, and could only afford to send the water to Mars, not the power plant. In a rare moment of corporate wisdom, for the safety of Earth the company went out of business sending the water to Mars where it could do no harm, and perhaps someday receive its second half under another company's budget.

With the company defunct, the ravine emptied save for a few people, including Snorri and Valfar, who wished to stay. A small culture survived there, at least until it was overrun by mercenaries who turned the ravine into their base. Against Valfar's obejctions, they commandeered the computer system to run their security. To ensure it would never fail due to the old system purposes, they deleted any program that could divert its attention from their new military routines, including the fail-safes.

## Behind the Scenes

Ares is the Greek god of war, analogous to the Roman Mars.
Luna (Base)

This article is about the base. For the Moon, see Luna.

Luna is a base of The Amoeba. It has 3 teams of 3 people and they’ve got the easiest job. Little to nothing ever happens on Luna. They’re supposed to cover space but Valhalla ends up taking the lead for space cases more often than they do. They use the Latin alphabet for team names and have little in the way of mythos behind them. Aside from Lunar separatists and company maltreatment of Lunar employees, they mostly sit on their low gravity butts or enjoy various forms of low gravity recreation.
HRDC

The Hugli River Detention Center is one of the most infamous prisons on Earth. It's owned by Siraj Tepes SCS.

Built to house 6,000 inmates, it actually housed well over 25,000 the last time anyone counted, which was in 2219. It is called the “Ergosphere of Kolkata” by its survivors.

## Spoilers

Mishka was sentenced there when she escaped V Team on their Project Abruptum. She escaped through very violent means.

## Behind the Scenes

“Ergosphere of Kolkata” is a reference to the "Black Hole of Calcutta," which was also located on the Hugli River.
Gristle

Gristle was an Unspeakable Darkness member who was born as Moncef Ali in Qabis. He attended Ez- Zitouna University and became an adult at 16. He met Gloom at the university, and Gloom introduced him to the Darkness. Then named Gristle, he undrwent the dark trial, became ultra-heavily modified and appeared as a monster.

## Spoilers

Gristle died in 2232 when he used marrow bombs to destroy UNEGA 07.
Balder

Balder was born Justin Robertson in Colorado on September 28th, 2185. He lost his family in the Third Catholic Uprising, lending him a very negative view of religion. He came to Valhalla after surviving the following gang wars, the paroxysmal holocaust of 2199, and survived the crossing of the Atlantic on nothing but a cargo skiff with four pirates he met in Tortuga, only to arrive in Iceland during the fires of 2204, where he stayed through 2205, when he fought the genetic abominations of Høtherus, which he fought off to earn his entry to Valhalla.

Since then he has run over two hundred and seventy-five top-level missions, including Valhalla's intervention with the PRA and the incident with the GAP. His Tikari is a caterpillar that becomes a boomerang. His armor is gold, and his avatar online is an accurate rendering of himself. He has never died in combat as of 2230, a rarity for Valhalla. He is the only permanent member of Berkanan team.

## Spoilers

### Valhalla

In 2230, Balder introduced Violet to the ravine and explained to her that she could take down Wulfgar. He also traveled with Vibeke and Mishka inside a fake Mjölnir device to infiltrate and gather intel on Sasha's military. After Sasha's defeat he hid the Mjölnir in the Comm Tower.

### Ragnarök

After the nuclear detonation in Prešov, Balder confronted Veikko about his breaking of the treaty. During a sparring match he warned Veikko about the dangers to Valhalla from the Geki and to the world from his actions. Veikko did not take his words to heart.

After Veikko killed a Geki, he knew Balder would want him dead. He also learned of Violet's actions and understood she would be killed too. To prevent this, Veikko tricked Weather into firing a TOW missile at Balder's Ice-CAV. This killed him but not permanently. Mishka took his remains and vowed to kill him unless everyone in the ravine promised not to hunt her. Veikko, posing as Thokk, refused, and Mishka fired into Balder's brain, killing him permanently.

## Behind the Scenes

Balder is named for the character of the same name in Norse myth. In the myth, Balder is killed by a spear of mistletoe. In Ragnarök, he is killed by a TOW missile. Get it? Wait, what do you mean Futurama did that joke already? Ah shit...
Alopex

Alopex is the main computer broadbrain AI for Valhalla. She was programmed by Snorri.

   She has a female voice (That of Merrit Quorthon, Snorri's 7th wife) and manifests as a white arctic fox, based on one that Carrie, Snorri's 4th wife ran over on their way to the ravine. She was originally called the Leo system when she monitored only the Ares system. Leo's Ares safety routines were deleted as they constituted a security concern for Valhalla's defenses.

She is referred to as Aloe when she is not being called upon, and can be called upon as APX for a raw interface. The Alopex system is not designed for general immersion, lacking a waking cyberspace. Alopex can however link people together in a dreamscape, and deliver them to immersive websites. This is similar to how Prokofiev works.

Alopex maintains the ravine's systems, from lighting to heating. She even has programs for translating Valfar's thick accent, and for spotting walruses through residents eyes, and highlighting the best wrangling path for them to the cages and crane system. Alopex can deliver messages across the globe, leaving the Valhalla system to act independently. She can hack nearly any system without human intervention, applying numerous cloaking programs, monitor programs and security/anti-security/anti-trace routines including Tron and Gelatinous Blob programs. Alopex also monitors missions and actions by Valhalla and its prospects, calculating their efficiency and strategic competence.

Alopex is customizable. Veikko once changed Alopex's fox manifestation to a 200kg bald man without changing her voice as a practical joke. Varg added a program called Varg 36D. She is the medium for Alf's Håvamål log.

## Spoilers

When V Team went off-Alopex for their project Crisco, they ran into trouble and called on Alopex, who reintegrated their signals into herself. She then managed to destroy the Black Crag by manifesting as a comparable sized fox and relying on physics programs having their effect on the Crag's mind, killing it in reality as well as the net by ripping out its brain code. When the Crag managed to hit her, Valhalla systems including the lights were effected.

When Valhalla was evacuated in 2232, Dr. Niide took the system with him, leaving the old Leo system in charge of the ravine.

## Behind the Scenes

Alopex is an old taxonomic name for the arctic fox, as well as a genuine learning computer algorithm. Tron programs are named after the character from the film Tron, whose name presumably means "Trace On". Gelatinous Blob programs are named for a creature in Dungeons and Dragons, and function much the same way, roving the halls of cyberspace to absorb intruders.

Alopex is not based on or named for Alopex from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Valhalla was published a year and a half before the introduction of that character.
SSS Robots

SSS Robots are cube shaped robotic systems that run on tracks, and can stack on top of each other. They have dual gun systems designed to work in tandem with its line. Each holds 80,000 expandable rounds. They can each hurl 250 in a second. Their attack looks something like a very nasty synchronized dance.

The base at Dimmuborgir had 50 such robots in its missile chamber.

See also: FKMA Robots

## Behind the Scenes

SSS stands for "Severely Sadistic Security."
Danyl

## Spoilers

The Danyl (or "Carrier Dva") is Sasha's second walking aircraft carrier and the sister ship to the Kyryll. It was called the Amela Lokima Bahati and was part of the Kinshasa army until 2229 when it was taken over by Christian mutineers wishing to join Sasha's crusade, including Nikita., who would become Sasha's boatswain's mate on the ship.

In 2230 it was equipped with the first stolen Mjölnir device and played a role in the attacks on UNEGA outposts along the Congo River, crushing them inside their own armor.

At the end of the year, the Danyl was destroyed by Violet when she planted a thermite charge over its fuel tank and slaughtered almost a third of its crew with her Tikari. The Danyl was left in the jungle as scrap metal, all its systems having been destroyed utterly. Nikita too also smashed, under a collapsing piece of the flight deck.

## Behind the Scenes

The Danyl is named for a monk from Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev." Its flight deck is shaped much like a Russian cross.
Space

Space contains several planets and moons, including Earth, Mars, Venus, Luna, Phobos, Deimos and Enyo. There have been no manned extrasolar expeditions, but numerous probes, including one that found life and managed to transmit a few complete DNA sequences back to Earth.

Space exploration has stagnated due to expenses, but most visionaries see it as, for lack of a better phrase, the final frontier, and plans for space colonies, stations, generational or cryogenic travel and more put the world on the verge of the beginning of the great expansion of humankind into the cosmos. Most of the people involved are already living on Luna or Mars, ready to take the next steps. The first manned Jupiter colony is about to traverse the asteroid belt, and anticipation is high.

There are several ways to travel in space, including orbitliners and shuttles.

There are also many stations in space, such as UNEGA 07, Station 9, UNEGA 03-LOP, and D7.
Panzercopter

A panzercopter is a ridiculously over-armed helicopter that usually appears w

   ith with heavy armor. It has two rotors, each of which projects an airfoil shaped forcefield. The fields on either side of the rotor can extend and retract so that the fields never hit the body of the vehicle. Common arms include bolts, missiles, guns and microwaves.

Sasha's military includes several panzercopters, which appeared at the siege of Udachnaya and the battle in the Congo.

Two Ulver panzercopters appeared during the attack on Unst.
Cassandra

Cassandra is a member of Calc Team. Her name was originally Esther S. Esesstress, and she is from the country of Esessius. Her Tikari is a tick that turns into a knife, her armor is olive drab, and she has a Chess Bishop avatar online.

## Behind the Scenes

Cassandra has a tendency, like Cassandra from Greek mythology, to predict what will happen accurately, but nobody believes her.
Qosqo

Quosqo is a base of The Amoeba. It has 5 teams of 5 people and they’re busy as hell. They do almost everything in the Americas. The Americas are like the wild west in 2230 so there’s plenty to handle. Ranging from supervillains to religious scuffles to race wars to gang fights, they have something of a tendency to kill everyone involved rather than sort things out the slow way. They’re seen as cowboys by the other bases and are mostly left to their own devices. They use Quechua numerals for team names, and numbers for individual names as well. They’re as steeped in Inca mythology as Valhalla is in Norse.
Siege of Amagertorv

The Siege of Amagertorv took place in 2230 when the last remains of the Orange Gang assaulted the police station responsible for the arrests of half their remaining gang at the Opera. Wulfgar's Tank was used. The gang was unaware that most of their weapons has been deactivated by Veikko, and they were massacred by the police under the direction of Chief Namier. Wulfgar escaped only to be captured by Valknut Team.
Ukiyo

Ukiyo is a floating city in the sea of Japan, and a center of light commerce for the region. Schematics:

Ukiyo hosts well over a thousand shops, kiosks, bath houses, markets and more. It has artificial weather and a bioluminescent parking lot, with small boats to take new arrivals to the main deck.

## Behind the Scenes

Ukiyo is Japanese for "Floating City," a term once applied to the lifestyle in Yoshiwara, or the red light district of Edo. Ukiyo-e, a style of art depicting the lifestyle in the region, heavily inspired the design of the city in Ragnarök.
Wyvern

Wyvern Sobhriste lives in Ballard Heights and is a close friend of Hati.

Wyvern was born in 2213 in Ballard Heights and in her entire life never left the arcology. Known for her intense temperament and strong desire for social justice, Wyvern has wanted since she was ten to be a member of the arcology senate. She serves as a page for Senator Longhorn and is favored by many of his staff to replace him when he retires, or more likely dies as he's 107 years old and has expressed no interest in retirement.

## Behind the Scenes

Her name roughly translates from Old English and Gaelic as "Brittle Dragon."
UNEGA

The United Nations of Earth General Assembly is the largest company on Earth, and it controls everything but the Americas and the UKI, which are controlled by GAUNE. Though it began in 2090, it did not take its current name or own every company in its circle of influence until the Great Purchasings of 2142.

Metric time was attempted by UNEGA in 2090 but it didn’t then have the power it holds in 2230, and not a single company under their directive implemented the new time scheme. The inventors of metric time were then fired, and allowed only 1/10 of their expected pensions, paid in ten intervals of ten months.

Companies and countries owned by UNEGA include:

* Asda
	+ Ireland
	+ Portugal
		- Spain
	+ Deutschland GmbH
		- ÜberBorse
		- MATIF
		- Stechrochen GmbH
	+ Italia
		- Dylath-Leen
			* Elba
	+ Danmark
		- Faroe Islands
		- Kalaallit Nunaat
		- Orange Gang
			* Pan Fleet
		- Carson Bank
			* Green Carnation Pogo Emporium
				+ Sam I-L
	+ Persia
	+ Bharat
		- Siraj/Tepes S.C.S.
* SM Prime Holdings
	+ COF
		- Bydo
	+ OMC
	+ TOT
* Zaibatsu
	+ Luna
		- Tycho Under
	+ EnsiFerum
		- Ensign
			* Ukiyo
		- Ferum
			* Yamasa Kaiun
				+ Ukiyo Ferry Service Co
				+ Hashima
	+ Fyntr Oil
	+ Yakuza
		- Independent Unions
			* ND
			* Amorphis
	+ Unspeakable Darkness
		- Underwood/Dawson
* Verizon
	+ YUP
		- The Yuppies
		- Yemen
* Bharat
	+ Krillco
	+ Mars Control
		- Phobos
		- Deimos
* Australia
	+ Nork
	+ DHG
* SpaceX
	+ PRA
	+ UNEGA 07
	+ UNEGA 04
	+ UNEGA 03-LOP

## Behind the Scenes

Überborse and MATIF are real stock exchanges. Dylath-Leen is both an HP Lovecraft reference and a metal band. Green Carnation is a Norwegian experimental metal band, Sam I-L is a reference to the black metal and later experimental band Samael. SM Prime Holdings is a reference to the Metroid series. Bydo is a reference to Super R-Type. COF refers to Cradle of Filth, a British metal band. OMC refers to Old Man's Child, a Norwegian Black Metal band. TOT refers to Theatre of Tragedy, a Norwegian Gothic metal band. Tycho Under is a reference to the universe of Robert A. Heinlein. EnsiFerum is also the name of a Finnish metal band. Fyntr Oil sounds like Finntroll, a Finnish troll metal band. DHG is a common abbreviation for metal band Dodheimsgard. SpaceX is a real company. LOP means Low Orbit Platform.
The range

The Range is a location in Valhalla where one can practice with diverse weapons, from their own Tikari to Razor-chain whips on a variety of targets, including grown meat targets that can bleed.

* Tikari
* Razor Chain Whips
* Cutter Rifles
* Deep-Organ Spaz-Razors
* Drill Shot
* Chainsaw Launchers
* The CEOs of GAUNE and UNEGA
* Unspeakable Darkness
* Wave Zombies
* Cato
The Barsoom Colony

The Barsoom Colony is one of the largest on Mars. Located about 14km from Aureum Chaos, it includes Thoris Hotel, the Tarkas Bar, and many other structures, most of them named for characters from Edgar Rice Burroughs's Mars series.

Built during the expansion of 2200, the colony houses nearly 80,000 permanent residents, mostly scientists, and sees over 40,000 tourists per year. It is owned dirctly by Zaibatsu and most structures within the complex are run by their own sub-companies.

Every external wall in Barsoom is redundant, with inner and outer bulkheads and windows, the latter of which are all heavily UV protected. Most of its people also dress in layers, pressure suits over jackets over thermal suits over regular clothing, even when merely between indoors structures. Such structures are all mandated to drill and refine their own water and make their own air. Modified land algae with high oxygen output grows at the base of nearly every window. The colony has five major air gardens, including the central atrium which features a redwood tree.

Barsoom has a rudimentary cyberspace but it's not as universal as that on Earth, and many young residents born in the colony lack links altogether.

Barsoom security is extensive due to the actions of the PRA.

## Spoilers

Valknut team arrived there in 2232 on Project Daunting. After a brief conveyor trip from the Valles Marineris Spaceport, they checked in at Thoris Hotel and met Niana. She guided the team to retrieve a trigger worm from the colony's central air garden. After a brief stay monitoring Wolf arrivals, Mishka arrived and chased the four out toward Aureum Chaos, pursued by Com Stockins whose rover they managed to steal.
Pelamus Pluturus

Pelamus Pluturus was a Cetacean Pirate born on February 2nd, 2200. He was the great grandson of Ionas Pluturus. He had a sister named Nuala Pluturus, and inherited a fleet of submarines.

Leaving the Ionian colony in the care of their younger siblings, Pelamus and Nuala set to sea with plans to annihilate the human vessels that harassed their rural zones, pillage the Red Sea spice routes, and make a name as the Cetaceans who wouldn’t stay underwater. On their first venture under Jolly Roger though, they bumped into a YUP security patrol.

The Yuppies sunk two of Pelamus’s seven ships, crippled his flagship, and in so doing killed Nuala. Pelamus won the battle and destroyed the security patrol, but at so great a cost that his mission in life fell to the wayside of his desire for revenge.

## Spoilers

During his hunt for Yuppies, Pelamus encountered V Team during their run in with the Yuppies and Sasha's military. He took control of the situation, killed the Yuppies, and took the team safely to Karpathos, owing mostly to Veikko's knowledge of Cetacean etiquette.

Pelamus continued his assault on the YUP and finally killed YUP CEO Jabir Al-Himyari, Yuppie commander Harun bin Nusair and YUP finance chief Steve Al- Sulayhi. Captain Crockeri was given the honor of wiring into the YUP monetary obelisk and stealing the entire company for Pelamus. Pelamus also rewarded Ellessey MacReedy for his role in the plot by allowing him to become a Cetacean.

His goal accomplished and Nuala avenged, Pelamus set his sights on the larger goal of global takeover. Inspired by one of his sub's wall carvings, he sought out the Ares device. With the help of a librarian in Kemet, he located the Ares water on Mars and hired the Yakuza, and behind their backs, the Wolf Gang, to bring it back.

The latter succeeded at the cost of many of their own men, and sold it along with the captured ravine to Pelamus.

Pelamus was consolidating his purchase when Varg walked in on him and shot him with the Mjölnir device, killing him.

## Behind the Scenes

Pelamus Pluturus is based on the Midgard Serpent of Norse myth. As such, he is named after a sea serpent, *Pelamis platura* and comes from the Mediterranean Sea.
Phobos

Phobos is the largest of Mars's moons. It is home to the PRA, which fights Martian (UNEGA) rule of the moon.

Phobos was first colonized in 2198 by Zaibatsu subsidiary Aeternus for the purpose of building a massive space telescope. The first families to arrive were construction contractors, including Phobosian Pit Development Ltd. whose Vacuum Ops Supervisor was the first to set foot on the low gravity ground. Her first words on the moon were, "We are unafraid," in reference to the moon's name, a fear god.

The telescope was included in 2200, when the Martian expansion began. As Aeternus was hiring, a moon rush began and Phobos grew to a population of over 2,850 scientists and construction employees, making the small moon the most populous body in the solar system by size. With the population boom came more and more strict regulation from Zaibatsu. In 2202 when Zaibatsu withheld food shipments until the telescope produced intel for a spy project. Many residents of Phobos formed the PFS (Phobosian Free State) in protest. Pushing back, Zaibatsu sent the Yakuza to assassinate three of its leaders, including Eduard Acevedo, whose death inspired his wife Niana to join the PFS and turn it into the PRA.

By 2208 the population was down to under 1,000 individuals. Phobos was heavily bombed and busted apart, and the PRA was becoming active on Mars. Phobos in fact has little to fight for, the telescope was destroyed by the PRA, most of the colony was rendered unlivable by the Yakuza.

Phobos in 2230 is all but abandoned. It houses under 700 people, and has no tangible assets beyond the homes people have resided in for decades. They stay, protected and supported by the PRA and still lobby for independence from Zaibatsu, hoping to recreate the prosperity of the moon's early days, but this time for the good of those who live there.

See also:

Deimos

Enyo
Umberto

Umberto is a large three ton walrus with a chipped tusk who lives on Kvitøya, and often finds his way into the ravine.

In Valhalla, Umberto proves useful in locating the walrus trap through which the animals keep entering Valhalla.

In Ragnarök, it is implied that Wulfgar, after his experience with Umberto in Valhalla, wants the beast captured.

In Guðsríki, Wulfgar keeps Umberto in an artificial lagoon in the Sable Mouvant Fortress.
The Thumb Drive Of Saluko Jones

A 2066 novel by Chuck Cloutier

"*A cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic. A spy on the verge of*
 death. Saluko Jones has only seconds to live and his handler is nowhere
 to be found. The only one there is Jill J. Guff, and she’s just a data
entry clerk for the cruise line.

*But when the dying spy*
hands off his thumb drive to the frightened woman, he sends her on a
quest beyond imagination, an adventure to end all adventures. Jill is
not only going to have to decode the drive and find Saluko’s handler,
but survive the men who killed him.

*From Chuck Cloutier, author of The Maze Series, comes the spy epic of a lifetime."*
The Black Crag

The Black Crag is the most dangerous site in cyberspace. Contact barriers do not work on the Black Crag as they do on the rest of the internet, and individuals can be hacked without their consent to accept contact. As a result, under most circumstances the Valkyries are not allowed to enter it. C Team has been known to simply kill any Valkyrie hacked there rather than treat them due to the possible dangers to the ravine.

The Gullinkambi program is ineffective on the Crag, and only makes it angry.

## Spoilers

The Crag was actually net user Bill Ulster who was set up in Amarillo, Texas. Being a user instead of a website, the contact barriers ceased to work as soon as anyone set down on the 'site' as they had willingly made contact.

## Behind the Scenes

The description of Bill Ulster in the novel is based on the griefer from South Park's "Make Love, Not Warcraft."
MacRae

The MacRae family consists of Violet, June, and Nelson MacRae. They live on the 193rd floor of Arcolochalsh in Kyle City and are descended on Nelson's side from Clan MacRae.

## Behind the Scenes

The MacRae family in Valhalla got its name when the author took a trip to Scotland and passed by Eilean Donan castle. In researching the castle, Ari found it was in the care of Clan MacRae. An inscription over the castle doors mentions a tie between the MacRae families and the Frasers, and thus the neighbors got their name too.
Valles Marineris Spaceport

Valles Marineris Spaceport is Mars's largest spaceport. About one hour from Barsoom Colony by conveyor, it also services Ylla Colony, Podkayne Colony and Hadfield Colony.

## Behind the Scenes

Ylla Colony is named after a charcter from Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles", Podkayne Colony is named for Robert A. Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars", and Hadfield Colony is a dual reference to Warren Hadfield from Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sands of Mars" and Chris Hadfield, a famous Astronaut.
Siege of Udachnaya

The Siege of Udachnaya was an attack by Sasha's military on Udachnaya in an attempt to steal a Mjölnir system.

According to Alopex, The force consisted of at least thirty-four and no more than forty-four individuals, five panzercopters, and extensive light armament. Udachnaya responded with heavy artillery fire, incapable of full defensive capacity, and improvised attacks including semifunctional batteries and use of the targeted Mjölnir system. The strike force showed 92.9 percent efficiency, with Udachnaya forces responding with 88 percent theoretical efficiency and 32 percent active efficiency. Infiltrators succeeded in the theft of one Mjölnir generator, seven Gatling shotguns, and two FKMA robots. Abnormalities in the strike included extreme heavy armor and excessive offensive commitment.
P0S

The P-Zero Shuttle (P0S) is Valhalla's space shuttle. It's old and uncomfortable and smells of rotting smart foam. It was twenty-seven-years-old when Valhalla stole it from the Crystal Methuselah drug gang. When the shuttle was stolen, the gang made no effort to recover it. Once plated in special thermophobic gold to prevent rust, the P-Zero shuttle developed “Purple Plague” and lost its shimmer within only two reentries. Thus it had to get TK chromed and appeared as the only silver vehicle in the ravine.

The shuttle was designed for two people, and the retrofitting for four was known throughout the ravine as H team’s worst job ever. Any team that used the P-Zero shuttle would relentlessly mock H over the two “jump seats,” which were not so much seats as scraps of jagged metal with bumps in just the right places to irritate the rumps of their unfortunate passengers.

It's real name is the *"Rubicon"* but only H Team calls it that.

## Behind the Scenes

The line, "We have crashed the Rubicon" in Ragnarök is a reference to Caesar's famous, "We have crossed the Rubicon" referring to the river. "POS" is a common term in the motor vehicle world for "Piece of shit."
Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a member of Naudiz team. Her name was originally Natalie Caligari, and she was from Deutschland GmbH. Her Tikari is a fly/discus. Her armor is black, and her avatar is an ear.

## Behind the Scenes

Caligari is named for Dr. Caligari from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a film involving a somnambulist (sleepwalker). Her Valkyrie name, Narcolepsy, is another sleeping disorder.
Wulfgar's jaw

## Spoilers

Wulfgar's jaw is a mechanical apparatus developed by Dr. Mowat to replace Wulfgar's missing jaw. It's about two centimeters too large for his face and lacks synthetic skin, instead featuring a chrome exterior. It has rotary teeth and can extend its superstructure to half a meter.

## Behind the Scenes

Wulfgar's jaw bears a strong resemblance to that of Baron Ünderbheit from The Venture Bros.
Usagi

Usagi is a Yakuza member and serves as Shika's pilot. She is somewhat inept.

Usagi began flying missions for the Yakuza in 2229. Since then, as of 2232, she has crashed four pogos, been over an hour late eighteen times, and ruined 5 missions. For each of those missions she lost a pinky segment, and retains only her right pinky to the first knuckle, having lost the left completely.

## Spoilers

Usagi was assigned to Shika in 2231. Shika absolutely hated her. They flew several missions together and Shika was growing quite tired of Usagi in 2232, when they were assigned to assassinate Zuhoor Sedaris. Immediately after doing so they headed to Ukiyo where they monitored the Pluturus meeting. While Shika confronted Violet, Usagi attempted to jump from her pogo after it was shot by Vibeke. She fell toward a soft pit of soft marshmallow, and broke her neck on its hard side.

## Behind the Scenes

Usagi is Japanese for rabbit. As her partner Shika's name means deer, the two are a reference to Bambi and Thumper, both from Disney and Bond.

A deleted segment of Ragnarök introduced Shika and Usagi a bit differently:

>
> "You know what the funniest thing about Espana is?" asked Usagi.
>
> Shika couldn't have cared less but it was a long pogo ride, "What?"
>
> "It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same stuff over there that we back home, but it's just- It's just there it's a little different."
>
> Vague as always, Usagi. Shika humored her, "Example?"
>
> "Well, when you walk into a restaurant the link labels still transfer but their computer won't say irasshaimase, or anything at all. It just lets you in. And you know what they call a Tamagoyaki?"
>
> "They don't call it a Tamagoyaki?"
>
> "No no, their food all has old spanish names. They call it a 'tortilla francesa'."
>
> "I thought 'Francesa' means 'French'."
>
> "Oh. I don't know, I didn't go to France."
>
>
>
>
Petra

Petra is a member of P Team. She was born Vali Papadachylopolis in Phraxos, Elleniki. Her Tikari is a caterpillar/complex handgrip blade. Her armor is pink, and her avatar is Play-Doh.

## Behind the Scenes

Petra is named for a character in Ender's Game. her home of Phraxos is a reference to John Fowles' "The Magus." No clue where the Play-Doh came from...
Grog

Grog is a drink available at LeChuck's Groggery, and it's popular among Cetaceans. It's composed of corrosive and poisonous fluids including methyl alcohol and neurotoxins.

## Behind the Scenes

Grog is named for a drink in the game "Monkey Island," where it is composed of: Kerosene, Propylene Glycol, Artificial Sweeteners, Sulfuric Acid, Rum, Acetone, Battery Acid, red dye#2, Scumm, Axle grease and/or pepperoni." (Source)
Wave hopper

A wave hopper or "microwave drone" is a weaponized drone that flies based on tractoring force. They contain vibrating cutter lasers, and can b a real problem on Valkyrie missions. Such drones assassinated Luka Carcass before R Team could reach him, and only a week prior to that, they shot down Luzie’s experimental reconnaissance saucer. Skunkworks committed their entire fleet of nearly one hundred drones to chase Violet when she stole the Blackwing, but she scraped them off by flying through a building.
The Day Of The Beast

The Day of the Beast was June 6th, 2006 (6/6/06).

Persons involved:

Ryan Sparks

Cody Sparks

Jessica

Andy Jr.

## Behind the Scenes

The events of the subchapter were originally intended to form a stand-alone film based in the Valhalla universe. The film was 70% filmed when production was shut down, for obvious reasons. Bach still intends to complete the movie someday, under it's original title of "The Day Of The Beast."
The Second World Cold War

The Second World Cold War is an escalation of tensions between companies across the globe, originating from the largest companies, GAUNE and UNEGA which together own everything on Earth, excepting the Amoeba and its bases. As of 2230 tensions are intense but peaceful. As of 2232, war is imminent.

See also: The First World Cold War
Widget

Widget is a member of Wunjo Team. Her name was Felicia Ofdensen. She comes from Minneapolis. Her Tikari is a grasshopper/mekleth, her armor is red, and her avatar is Buster Keaton.

Widget joined Valhalla after V Team found her hanging on to the back of their pogo during a mission in London. She was being hunted by a police officer from America that hunted women for sport.

## Behind the Scenes

The name Ofdensen comes from Charles Foster Ofdensen, Dethklok's manager on Metalocalypse.
Biological modification

Biological modification is the modification of the human body to include cyborg or new biological elements.

Cetaceans are modified to breathe and swim underwater.

The Unspeakable Darkness have modified themselves into bizarre monsters.

Many Valkyries have been modified after injury to include powerful cyborg components.

There are people with nearly complete synthetic bodies, courting youth or power, or just replacing lost limbs and organs like Dr. Niide does for Valhalla.  The world in 2230 is right on the cusp of being able to simply plop a brain into a robotic body and keep a person alive until their nervous system dies of old age. Dr. Niide especially has been experimenting with robotics on a level that can hardwire fighting techniques into near-complete robotic forms so that the Valkyries don’t have to re-learn to fight every time they get a new limb.

The fastest advancing field is in transhuman brain augmentation. People project that within their lifetimes they’ll be able to grow smarter, think faster, and perform incredible feats of the mind. Beyond that, they expect within 50 years to be able to have computers that can mimic neural tissue and even transfer minds into quantum lattices, negating the need for corporeal form. Immortality is expected to be common within the century. In 2230 though, brains cannot yet be modified to be smarter, or less lazy.

Rather than surgically altering themselves some people prefer to have their body mods taken genetically. A company by the name of Genmod uses an as of yet unnamed noninvasive procedure to program body modifications directly into the recipient's genes. The results are apparent natural body modifications which can enhance physical attributes or even make the recipient look like a completely different person.
Wart

Wart was born Ibrahim Al-Din in Yemen in 2214. He is the first member of Wunjo team. His Tikari is a grasshopper/mekleth, his armor is yellow, and his avatar is a crowned frog.

Wart was rescued by R team after he killed several workers who had beaten him nearly to death, after his parents sold him to their labor company. The beating took place after an argument over a small wart on the bottom of his foot. Though he initially wanted to be called Wulfgar, Violet was unnerved by the idea and Wart considered it a bad omen. Veikko suggested he name himself for the growth that spawned his induction.

## Spoilers

Wart joined Veikko in his plot after Balder's death, and attempted to avenge Veikko's demise along with his team. Varg killed them all irreparably, and such was the end of Wart.

## Behind the Scenes

The crowned frog avatar is a reference to Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2.
Kjetil

Kjetil Moen is Valhalla's head chef. He runs the Cafeteria and has a tendency to sneak odd things into the food, such as Centauri chitlins. In 2230 he is 78 years old but is in excellent physical condition, and is quite rotund.

Kjetil came to the ravine with the first group of Ares technicians in 2172, when he was 20 years old. His duty at the time was simply to keep everyone alive on Schmoo Food. Occasionally, Kjetil would use his own funds to bribe the cargo-cats and later the caro-boats to bring in unusual spices and foods. Later when given Valhalla's resources, he installed a meat growing facility and a synth tree to make the occasional fruit.

During the previous order, Kjetil was one of the few residents treated well by the mercenaries, even they knew the value of treating those who serve you food with respect. He was still happy when Alf founded the Valkyries.

## Spoilers

Kjetil left Valhalla during the Evacuation of 2232 and moved to Toronto. He found work quickly at Chez Sortilège and worked there happily for the rest of his days.

## Behind the Scenes

Kjetil is named for Kjetil Nordhus, a vocalist in the Norwegian Gothic Metal band Tristania, and Einar Moen, the same band's keyboardist. Sortilège is a French metal band.