Mulligan, WY - Back Story

Mulligan, WY is a turn-based RPG that draws from Earthbound Zero, Yume Nikki, and Ghosts of Aliens, as well as novels by Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. It is set in a modern-day world with surreal environments, psychic powers, government conspiracies, and meddling aliens. Here is the back story.

"In the beginning, there was nothing. A group of scientists from beyond the stars saw this, and decided, 'Hey, this looks like a good spot for our experiment!' And thus Earth was born, not by the hand of God, nor by random happenstance, but by science. The purpose? To create a self-sustaining world capable of existing without extraterrestrial interference. For you see, there exists not one species in all the Universe that was created without the ability to travel through space. Anyways, the scientists buried leylines beneath the surface of the world - these leylines would channel psycho-kinetic energy (PKE) throughout the world and help fuel its evolution. Where these lines crossed nodes formed, and these would attract humans from all over the world and become important sites in the planet's history.

And so, Earth continued to be monitored and protected by the aliens. But the experiment was doomed to fail, for about 800 years ago a prison transport ship passed through our sector. The ship carried within it thousands of dangerous alien convicts, both criminally and naturally so. A riot broke out, and a group of alien mafioso managed to escape in a spectacular outer-space battle. And in the calamity, an isolation pod broke loose from the ship, and plummeted toward Earth...

The pod contained a creature known as a Psychic Devourer, a small rabbit-like beast that feeds on naturally-emitted PKE, like the kind emitted from humans pretty much all the time. The creature could feel the presence of raw PKE nearby, and exerted the last bit of energy it had to maneuver its vessel towards a node in Western North America - the future site of Mulligan, Wyoming.

The Psychic Devourer buried itself and began leeching PKE from the planet, growing stronger with each passing year. Eventually, it grew strong enough to break free of its confines, but unsurprisingly did not - after all, it wasn't about to give up this much free food. It's presence would stunt the economic growth of the area, and would prevent Mulligan from becoming as important as it should have. This drew some unwanted attention...

1961. Mulligan's Woods, a forest in Wyoming. Young Charles Brown, ten at the time, would witness the first Strange Happening in the town's history - several alien ships suddenly appeared over the woods and began scouring the area. Minutes later, the Air Force arrived and began opening fire on the ships, believing them to be KGB spy vessels. The alien fleet is repulsed, and Charles becomes suddenly aware of how interesting his life just became. The forest is declared a State Park and a Military Base is erected the next year just south of town.

The ships were searching for the Psychic Devourer, who foresaw their coming and lashed out at reality, sinking it's claws into the veil that separates dimensions. The gashes would serve as distractions, for they would rip the world asunder if left alone for too long. Content that it would be safe, the creature returned to slumber...

1972. Charles chases a falling star into the woods and meets with the aliens, whose vessel had crashed. They tell him he hasn't much time and bathe him in an odd light. But their time runs too short, and the Army quickly swoops in. Charles becomes a military experiment, and is held on base for several months. Afterwards, he opens a strange business in town...

July 3, 2000. Soil's parents ask him to run to the grocery and pick up some tofu dogs. On his way home, he is hit by a bus and enters a coma. Three days later, he awakens and discovers he has psychic powers. Charles approaches him and gives him the power granted to him by the aliens, and tells him to seek out the holes in reality. And so, Soil's life gets much more interesting.

These gashes have begun filling with the essence of the areas they have been in. New worlds have begun forming within them, but they are imperfect and nonsensical. Incomplete. Charles has enlisted Soil to hunt these gashes down, enter them, and remove the claws that hold them open. But no one has any idea what has caused these events to occur, and no one is prepared to face the beast that slumbers beneath Mulligan, WY."

Cool, huh?