Such a mishmash has drawbacks, of course - many people suffer from mutation due to exposure to unknown pathogens or genetic defects caused by the technology that surrounds them. The Ninth World’s societies haven’t progressed beyond the medieval stage, many of them are still tribal, and at the same time, they have access to untold wonders of technology that are so powerful they almost seem alien. The entire setting draws heavily from Clarke’s Third Law – “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, and magic is probably the most apt word to use in reference to the numenera. Naturally most it has fallen into disrepair, the original purpose of each device is usually unknown, but the current inhabitants of Earth make use of them in their own, creative ways. Each grew on the ashes of their predecessors, gradually changing the Earth’s landscape into a hodgepodge of mysterious technology, collectively called numenera. Many civilisations have risen to power and gone extinct over the course of time – nobody really knows how many, but nine is the general consensus. What is The Ninth World, you might ask? Why, it’s Earth, except a billion years into the future. Much like the original Torment, TToN uses a tabletop RPG setting, in this case The Numenera, also known as The Ninth World, created by Monte Cook, a legend of D&D. Brace for impact, as it will take more than just crashing into the Earth’s crust to end you. You are the Last Cast-off, the latest of The Changing God’s creations, you’re plummeting through the atmosphere at terminal velocity, slowly realising the severity of your predicament, and you’re about to discover a painful truth - just like your master, you are immortal, facing an endless existence of torment. Like a snake shedding its skin, a cast-off was born each cycle, a new consciousness occupying the now-discarded, unwanted vessel. As a Nano of unmatched skills, The Changing God discovered an ancient method of transferring his mind into new bodies of his own design, each faster, smarter and stronger than the last.
What greater power can one possess than the ability to cheat death itself, to escape the sharp edge of the Grim Reaper’s scythe, time after time? Such is the power of The Changing God, the main antagonist of inExile’s Torment: Tides of Numenera (TToN), a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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