WWCoC Premise

-Stars are elder gods; through the medium of light, they communicate information that imposes certain rules upon the base, existing structure of the universe. This is the true Luminiferous Aether.

-The motivations/machinations of the Great Stars are not necessarily understandable to a human scale consciousness, but it can be said that their operations spread their influence; as such, they can easily come into direct conflict with each other.

-The Old Sun was a such a Great Star; it was attacked and overcome by the New Sun, which had Aether that induced rampant evolution and mutation, all in pursuit of creating advanced Observers; that which you look upon can change you, but that which you look at is altered in turn by Observation (quantum mechanics inspired, collapsing wave functions). As such, Old Sun was infected and its form taken over by the New Sun; however, the Aether of the Old Sun survived in the Earth's core, from the dawn of its accretion. These forces are now respectively The One Above and The One Below.

-The war between The One Above and The One Below has been the cause of many major events on earth, such as the 5 Great Extinctions, the Cambrian Explosion, Sunspot Minimums, and Volcanic Activity, with Below generally on the back foot. However, the industrial revolution of the mid-late 1800s involved the use of fossil fuels that were part of its domain, giving it enough influence to make some larger attacks. This leads to the creation of the Scars during the Silverman Chapman solar storm on February 4th, 1872, in which volcanic regions of the Earth became contested zones, where laws of both forms of Aether clash and mingle.

-Other Great Stars are interested in the weapon of life utilized by The One Above; Eta Carinae especially is attempting to eclipse phase Earth Aether with its own, specifically with regard to new and advanced technology, such as radio. The One Below is also co-opting subterranean life for its own agents.

-The game centers on the human level events caused by the conflicts of the Great Stars; the resolution of these conflicts happen over millennia, and therefore the players would only be able to affect small scale elements. However, the echoes of Luminiferous Aether in inherited patterns of thought can be seen in such things as:

-The worship of the Sun as a god by ancient civs
-The concept of a Devil below that cannot be trusted
-Obsession with fire, its stealing, its use, its power
-Apocalyptic events involving eternal darkness

-Humans who have work that focuses on observation are often predisposed to becoming more deeply altered by Aether; astronomers are more likely to become infected by Great Stars other than the One Above, for instance, where as paleontologists and geologists may find themselves falling under the influence of the One Below. Artists and biologists may be more tied to the One Above.

-"Magic" is the ability to weave Luminiferous Aether through thought and observation, imposing the laws of a Great Star more strongly in their realms, or bringing such into existence outside of their holdings. However, this generally causes irreversible alterations to the physical and metaphysical being, as energy must be translated or consumed from the self to do so. "Wizards" are doomed to lose their grip on reality, and become untethered from it.