CODEX OMNIVERSA

The 12th Amendment

Proposed on December 9, 1803 and ratified on June 15, 1804, the 12^th amendment to the constitution of the United States of America allowed meta-humans to protect their identities when testifying in court.

Arthur Gordon Pym

On January 18, 1827, a topsail schooner called “the Jane Guy” had come to the Arctic Circle on a quest for seals and their fur. On board was a young man called Arthur Gordon Pym and a fierce half-breed named Dirk Peters. The spotted a strange creature and dragged it on board…

The next day, the ship encountered an unusual race of natives that led the sailors to their island, Tsalal, where most were killed by an avalanche made by the Tsalalians. Pym and Peters saw this happen from a ridge they had climbed earlier. They also saw them flee, shrieking, when a white-furred carcass washed up on shore.

He was known as Nu-Nu, and the men took him with them, hoping to find more of their people further north. 

They soon found themselves in a wondrous region, where the water became milky white and increasingly warm — where a white ash-like powder fell upon them, like a vapor – 

In the grip of a vast and quiet cataract rising before them, a chasm opened before them. As the two men prepared to die, a creature with skin as white as the snow moved toward them. They followed it and discovered a world that had been hidden from mankind. 

For eight years, they lived with the “Dyzan” and learned the secret of the Vril…

One day Pym and Peters fled. Back in America, Pym shared his story with a man named Edgar Allan Poe, who betrayed him by publishing his story as a work of fiction (and was the author’s only complete novel.) Peters was furious that Pym told Poe what happened and the two men fought to the death. When Pym prevailed, he inherited the Vril powers of Peters, making him far stronger than before.

Pym returned to the Dyzan and took control of their race, forcing them to build a weapon, an undersea ship called the Nautilus, powered by the Vril. 

In time, the Nautilus was destroyed and Captain Nemo/Arthur Gordon Pym seemed to vanish. The existence of the Nautilus was denied; however, another author named Jules Verne (see below), wrote a partly accurate account of its career.

Sustained by the Vril, Pym did not die. He returned to America in 1890, took the name “Perkins,” and got married. She died giving birth to a child, Ross, whom Pym took back to Dyzan. He was accepted into the community, but never developed Vril powers, which required physical maturity. Miserable, he was sent back to America and never saw his father again…

We’ll see them again, though, just after the turn of the century…

Edgar Allan Poe

In 1849 in Baltimore, author Edgar Allan Poe helped a public carrier clear his name when he was accused of a gold robbery.

The Driscoll Expedition

In 1861, Caleb Driscoll led a group of 400 settlers toward the Northwest Territories. Winter came early and they got caught in the mountains when the snow came. It didn’t take long until they were starving…

By that time they ate all their livestock and horses! The were gnawing on wood and saddles! That kind of pressure breeds insanity in folks! You get angry. Mean. There were two things left to eat! First, all the family pets went! A couple of dogs at first — and then the cats! Lots and lots of cats!

The Driscoll settlement became known as Lost Junction and remained hidden for 100 years.

Jason Blood

The brave new world is lying there asking for it. The years roll by. We begin in New Amsterdam and move north and then west. The demon and I work more closely than ever.

I move an Indian tribe onto barren land and sell them blankets soaked in smallpox for when the winter comes. Etrigan is there to drink the blood of their dying gods.

The Civil War is a godsend. Lucifer was right.

The Great Chicago Fire

In October of 1871, Henry Norton returned from a trip into the future with newspapers intended to provide winners of horse races. However, he discovered he was going to be one of the casualties in the Great Chicago Fire.

The strain of time travel and learning his future drove Norton out of his mind and he inadvertently started the fire himself.

Sherlock Holmes

In 1886, Dr. Nigel Brewster of Harley Street paid Sherlock Holmes a visit.

For quite some time Holmes had been aware of a criminal mastermind “manipulating the inhabitants of London’s underworld like some malignant puppeteer…”

Dr. Brewster had married the daughter of a Chicago banker named Crosby, but she died in a train crash the previous year, and Holmes wondered if it was really an accident. This began a mystery in which Holmes and colleague Dr. Watson prevented an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria by his arch nemeses, Professor Moriarty.

Jules Verne

In 1888, thieves attempted to steal a crystal ball from author Jules Verne, believing it could foretell the future. 

Jack the Ripper

In 1888, Nimue Inwudu (Madame Xanadu) was in London when…

During this time, she encountered the Phantom Stranger, who told her she could have stopped Jack the Ripper. However, the Stranger had something else in store for the Ripper…

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