Changes
* So far little is known about the [[Gemstone Hegemony]], other than that they were the original source of the purple beam weapon used by [[The Black-eyed Army]] in the battle of the [[Capital Temple]]. It is interesting to note that more than once we have seen evidence of technology, devices or entities of a crystalline nature, such as the [[Blue Crystal Trap]], the [[Purple bio-stone]]s and the [[Rotator]]s. Given the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] were able to develop a powerful weapon in the form of a purple beam weapon hundreds of years earlier, it is not a huge stretch to expect that other useful technology from them would have been collected by [[The Black-eyed Army]], or previously by [[The First World]]. [[Cristina Thompson]] and other tech specialists would likely have studied such technology in order to develop advanced technologies of their own.
* In addition, the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] is known to span multiple realities, maintaining their own territories in the Multiverse. Lifeforms are entirely crystalline in nature, and so far no communication has been possible with humanity, due to the significant differences between them.
=== So I've heard about a huge plant entity that calls itself a God. Where did this come from? ===
* From Aztec mythology, [[Mictlan]] is the name of the land of the dead. In essence, an underworld of sorts. Mictlantecuhtli is the ruler or lord of [[Mictlan]]. We have two sorts of known entity that comprise the [[Mictlan]], the massive metallic construct which appears to be the central control node, and the [[Corpse-thing]]s, which are little more than drones. When severed from the controller the [[Corpse-thing]]s revert to standard harmless corpses. As for why the [[Soul Reader (Book)]] could read the soul of a dead person from the world destroyed by the [[Mictlan]], the most likely answer here is that the victim committed suicide, preventing the loss of their soul, or that the soul was being read from nearby, when it had been cast out by the [[Mictlan]].
* As for why the [[Soul Reader (Book)]] became warm, this raises an interesting prospect. The [[Soul Reader (Book)]] is a piece of technology, little more than a tool or machine. It wasn't made by [[The First World]] or the [[Brownshirt]]s, and isn't crystalline, suggesting the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] aren't responsible for it either. It also was not recognized by the [[Yngtak]], so who or what exactly made it, and why? Also, why make it communicate with souls, rather than the more traditional physical means of interrogation? The most logical answer here is that it was developed specifically to communicate with the souls of the dead. The [[Mictlan]] controller appears to also be a technological construct (although it may does contain organics within the core of its structure) which also explicitly interacts with the dead. One possibility here is that they are related in a sense, with the [[Soul Reader (Book)]] being a precursor device developed before the more advanced [[Mictlan]] controller was constructed. With a vast army of undead corpses, the [[Mictlan]] controller would have had a huge workforce available to build itself into the colossus it has now become, irrespective of its original size.
=== What is [[GLORWOC]]? What does it stand for and where did it come from? What is its significance? ===
* [[Heath]] first contacted a [[Shadow Entity]] during the story of 'The Desolate Guardians'. From here he learned that he was unable to be helped himself, as the [[Shadow Entity]] said allowing it to consume him would be kinder than his current existence. [[Heath]] has apparently subsequently made a deal with the entity, likely offering his consciousness or soul to the entity in exchange for its assistance helping those that [[Heath]] was unable to contact. This came into play in [[Noah Fulmer]]'s story, where the same [[Shadow Entity]] helped awaken both copies of Noah as well as [[Jay]], [[Roger]] and others from their psychic interrogation. As the interrogation involved both psychic and drug-induced components, the party most likely behind this was [[The Black-eyed Army]], who would have hoped to locate the [[Capital Temple]] through any information Noah could offer. [[Heath]] apparently does not expect to remain alive should he deliver on his end of the deal.
* It has been tentatively confirmed that [[Heath]] upheld his side of the bargain. This probably means he has been consumed by the [[Shadow Entity]] with which he made his agreement.
=== How long has [[The Black-eyed Army]] existed? ===
* The exact length of time that [[The Black-eyed Army]] has existed is not really known, but we can estimate it to be not much more than about five years old. This is from Conn's story in 'The Crushing Fist', where the events of [[Earth 44]] and [[The Ink]] were stated as occurring five years earlier. Due to the clinical immortality of some citizens of [[The First World]] as well as the enhancements to those who were altered by the [[Shadow Entities]], it is possible the members of [[The Black-eyed Army]] may have existed for hundreds of years prior to their conversion. This would seem to be supported by the mention of a stolen purple beam weapon used in the battle of the [[Capital Temple]], which was stolen from the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] eight hundred years ago. That said, there has been no mention of who exactly stole the weapon from the hegemony, and it may have been acquired prior to the formation of [[The Black-eyed Army]], potentially while [[Command]] was still active. One reason for such an action could have been the ongoing war with the [[Yngtak]].
=== Are there any more [[Multiverse Titan]]'s? What about other [[Regeneration Core]]s? ===
* It really wouldn't be surprising if more of these existed, [[Ward Shaw (The Sword)]] provided a psychic link to allow one such titan to project its [[Regeneration Core]] into its deep future, and during the battle with [[The Mad GodDevastation]] other titans may have resorted to similar techniques, or been shattered into fragments that came to rest in or connected to other realities. Other massive organic entities have been encountered, such as the [[Dreamer On High]], or the organic entity in the series 'It Watched Us Play'. One interesting aspect of the [[Regeneration Core]] was its ability to affect the minds of many individuals from a considerable distance, in which it leaked its bitterness, pain and anger into the population. The vast collective apathy experienced by [[The First World]] may have been due to the loss of the [[Regeneration Core]], or even through the influence of another, similar core elsewhere on or near [[The First World]].
* From 'Our Final Acts (Part 3)', the reason the citizens of [[The First World]] are so apathetic is due to their achievement of clinical immortality, which essentially left many people incredibly bored.
* Hey, anything is possible here. Cristina may look early thirties, but with the advanced medical discoveries from the destruction of the [[Regeneration Core]] on [[The First World]], she may actually be somewhat older. Her personality indicates a mental age more typical of an older adult, with greater cynicism borne from experience. As for why different versions of Laura seem to vary in age anywhere from being a child to a young adult, this could be explained by differences between realities. As shown by the [[Temporal Bacteria]], temporal displacement can happen in one reality entirely independently of the other realities around it. As a result, anything from taking a different quantum decision branch to gravitational distortions since the birth of each universe may slightly alter the passage of time, leading to displacements in their respective time-lines of years, or even millennia.
* The age aspect has been explained in 'Our Final Acts (Part 3)', where it has been confirmed that some citizens of [[The First World]] have achieved clinical immortality. From 'Our Final Acts (Part 8)', the backstory of both Conn and Cristina was explained further, indicating they both met in their late teens, with Cristina becoming pregnant at roughly 20-21 years old. It also transpired that both Cristina and Conn undertook the immortality treatment after travelling to [[The First World]] while [[Laura ThomsonThompson]] was a teenager. Both Conn and Cristina lived for a number of decades subsequent to their immortality treatment, with Cristina continuing her work as a civilian consultant to [[Command]].
* Cristina's shoe contains dirt from one of the realities she has gone through in the past. How exactly Cristina traveled between realities is unknown, but she may have used various installations of [[The First World]], or through fractures in the realities similar to how [[Alek]] lead refugees towards [[The First World]]. What the dirt contained is unknown, it is unlikely to be [[GLORWOC]], as it would have spread and destroyed everything around it, so another possibility is another microorganism, such as [[Temporal Bacteria]], or a residue of some sort. Given the [[Regret Demon]]'s considerable abilities, it can be presumed that whatever was on the shoe is rare and hard to obtain, and provides a material advantage to the [[Regret Demon]], whatever its agendas may be.
* This has been answered as of 'Our Final Acts (Part 8)'. After the battle of [[Earth 44]], [[Cristina Thompson]] in despair activated the same [[Metallic Chip]] she had stolen as a teenager. Inadvertently she accessed the [[Orthogonal Reality]], an artificial reality separate to those of the standard multiverse realities. Her transport to and from this reality included a variety of materials, including the dirt on her shoes. The [[Regret Demon]] was able to analyse the shoe and dirt to determine the location of the [[Orthogonal Reality]], information which it subsequently traded to the [[Gemstone Hegemony]].
=== Who reprogrammed [[Noah Fulmer]]'s duplicate? What for? ===
* Current theories are that the duplicate of Noah was reprogrammed by either [[The Black-eyed Army]] or a similarly aligned faction. The party responsible for the shared psychic interrogation of both of the Noahs and a number of others ([[Roger]] and [[Jay]]) also used drugs, suggesting a less supernatural influence was at work. Their rapid departure would also match the actions of [[The Black-eyed Army]], who would likely have moved using the [[Shadow Sphere]]'s portal abilities.
* It was confirmed by [[Ward Shaw (The Sword)]] that [[The Black-eyed Army]] was responsible for the psychic interrogation of both Noahs, and that they had often used the duplicate of Noah for his unique psychic and emotion sensing abilities.
=== Who is [[Laura Thompson]]? What happened to her? Is she dead or alive? ===
* [[Laura Thompson]] is or was the daughter of [[Conn Thompson]] and [[Cristina Thompson]]. From the various stories it is assumed that Laura died at some point in the past, which turned Cristina into something of a monster which resulted in the events of the engagement in [[The Ink]] on [[Earth 44]], and the creation of [[The Black-eyed Army]]. How Laura actually died, or whether she actually died remains unknown, however it is notable that [[Alek]] has a sister also called Laura. One theory at this point is that [[Alek]], along with his brother and sister may be the children of a parallel version of [[Conn Thompson]] and [[Cristina Thompson]], where their lives followed very different decision paths. There are a few other theories regarding [[Laura Thompson]], one notable one being that she was the lost child in the back paths found by [[Noah Fulmer]]'s duplicate while programmed with his hunter personality. Whether or not Laura is truly dead or alive remains to be seen, various versions of her have been encountered in both states.
* The primary [[Laura Thompson]] has been confirmed as dead, although the exact cause of her death isn't known. She was buried on one of the worlds near the outer rim where both [[Cristina Thompson]] and [[Conn Thompson]] were working, and it was here that the [[Preacher]] raided the graveyard, stealing both her body and soul. This resulted in [[Cristina Thompson]]'s ongoing vendetta against the [[Preacher]], leading to the events on [[Earth 44]]. There have however been many versions of Laura found on various universes, suggesting her existence is not unique to a single reality and other versions do exist, both living and dead.
