Eternal War: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
(23 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox Conflict | {{Infobox Conflict | ||
|aka = Vampire Wars | |aka = Vampire Wars, Great War against the Vampires, Great War, first War in Heaven, war against the Yssgaroth, Yssgaroth campaigns, War against the Great Vampire | ||
|image = Gallifrey Chronicles Scroll.jpg | |image = Gallifrey Chronicles Scroll.jpg | ||
|part of = [[Time Wars]] | |part of = [[Time Wars]] | ||
|location = [[Spiral Politic]] | |location = [[Spiral Politic]], [[Dark Times]] | ||
|result = {{il|Time Lord victory|[[King Vampire|Hive leader]] escapes into [[E-Space]]|All other Vampires killed}} | |result = {{il|Time Lord victory|[[King Vampire|Hive leader]] escapes into [[E-Space]]|All other Vampires killed}} | ||
|side1 = {{il|[[Time Lord]]s|[[Qwerm]]}} | |side1 = {{il|[[Time Lord]]s|[[Qwerm]]}} | ||
|side2 = [[Great Vampire]]s | |side2 = {{il|[[Great Vampire]]s|[[Vampire Alliance]]}} | ||
|leader1 = {{il|[[Rassilon]]|[[Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu]]|[[Mirraflex]]}} | |leader1 = {{il|[[Rassilon]]|[[Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu]]|[[Mirraflex]]}} | ||
|leader2 = [[King Vampire]] | |leader2 = {{il|[[King Vampire]]|[[Iblis]]|[[Three Mad Sisters]]}} | ||
|strength1 = {{il|[[Bowship]]s|[[N-Form (Damaged Goods)|N-Forms]]|[[War TARDIS]]es|[[Stake Drive]]s|[[Were Lord]]s}} | |strength1 = {{il|[[Bowship]]s|[[Raston Warrior Robot|Rassilon's Automatons]]|[[N-Form (Damaged Goods)|N-Forms]]|[[War TARDIS]]es|[[Stake Drive]]s|[[Were Lord]]s}} | ||
|strength2 = {{il|[[Yssgaroth]] taint|[[Cucurbite]]s|[[Coffin ship]]s}} | |strength2 = {{il|[[Yssgaroth]] taint|[[Cucurbite]]s|[[Coffin ship]]s}} | ||
}} | |||
The '''Eternal War''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') also known as the '''Vampire Wars''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Infinity Doctors (novel)|The Infinity Doctors]]'', ''[[The Quantum Archangel (novel)|The Quantum Archangel]]'', ''[[World Game (novel)|World Game]]'') | The '''Eternal War''''', ''([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') also known as the '''Vampire Wars''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Infinity Doctors (novel)|The Infinity Doctors]]'', ''[[The Quantum Archangel (novel)|The Quantum Archangel]]'', ''[[World Game (novel)|World Game]]'') '''Great War against the Vampires''', ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)}}) '''Great War''', ([[AUDIO]]'': [[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]])'' '''first War in Heaven''', '''Yssgaroth campaigns''', '''war against the Yssgaroth''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') or '''War against [[the Great Vampire]]''', ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Blood Invocation (comic story)}}) was a protracted and bloody conflict fought against the [[Great Vampire]]s early in [[Time Lord]] history, during the [[Dark Times]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') It was part of a larger series of Eternal Wars, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (novel)|Damaged Goods]]'') the [[Time Wars]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Sky Pirates! (novel)|Sky Pirates!]]'', ''[[River of Time (short story)|River of Time]]'', et al.) | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
=== Beginning === | === Beginning === | ||
Because the story of the Eternal War was never recorded in [[the Matrix]], there were varying accounts of its start. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') | Because the story of the Eternal War was never recorded in [[the Matrix]], there were varying accounts of its start. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') The conflict was, nevertheless, remembered as one of the most important chapters within the [[Gallifreyan history|history of the Great Houses]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') | ||
According to a transmission | According to a transmission on [[Anathema]] that may have been influenced by [[Faction Paradox]] propaganda, the war began when [[Rassilon]] first opened a [[black hole]] in an attempt to draw power from other planes of existence. The black hole reached through to [[Spiral Yssgaroth|an inhabited plane]], and monsters with great leathery wings and bat-like heads swarmed through the opening. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'') | ||
According to ''[[The Book of the War]]'', the Yssgaroth escaped into [[Spiral Politic]] during the [[anchoring of the thread]]. They destroyed the machinery responsible for the anchoring, creating the [[caldera]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') However, one account of the war showed that the fighting began before [[Gallifreyan]]s had mastery over time. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') [[The Doctor's TARDIS]] once displayed a "half-true" account of history in which it was Rassilon who started the war, having decided that the Vampires needed to be destroyed even though they were living off mindless creatures that they themselves bred. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]'') | According to ''[[The Book of the War]]'', the Yssgaroth escaped into [[Spiral Politic]] during the [[anchoring of the thread]]. They destroyed the machinery responsible for the anchoring, creating the [[caldera]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') However, one account of the war showed that the fighting began before [[Gallifreyan]]s had mastery over time and still called themselves the "Space Lords". ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') [[The Doctor's TARDIS]] once displayed a "half-true" account of history in which it was Rassilon who started the war, having decided that the Vampires needed to be destroyed even though they were living off mindless creatures that they themselves bred. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]'') | ||
According to ''[[The Thousand and Second Night]]'', the djinn survived the destruction of their world "before the first time"; the "[[caldera|cauldron of creation]]" also survived from this "world before the world", and [[ | According to ''[[The Thousand and Second Night]]'', which was written by [[Lolita]] to influence players in the [[War in Heaven]], the "[[djinn]]" survived the destruction of their world "before the first time"; the "[[caldera|cauldron of creation]]" also survived from this "world before the world", and "[[Allah]]" filled it with an infinite black emptiness in which he could dissolve the current world and create a new one. [[Iblis]], the leader of the djinn, wanted Allah's power for himself, so he convinced the djinn to help him steal the cauldron and bring it from [[Heaven (afterlife)|Jannat]] to [[Hell|Jahannam]]. Allah formed his "[[angel]]s" into five [[Chapter|"great tribes"]] and many [[Great House|smaller tribes]] and sent them to defend the cauldron. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') | ||
=== The conflict === | === The conflict === | ||
The ferocity and resilience of the Vampires made their defeat very difficult. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') | The ferocity and resilience of the Vampires made their defeat very difficult. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') Leading the so-called "[[Vampire Alliance]]", ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') they drank their opponents' [[blood]] and feasted on their power. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') Led by [[Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu]], Gallifrey’s forces pushed the Yssgaroth back into their own universe over a thousand years, though billions of people were killed and whole star systems were destroyed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') The [[Qwerm]] were allied with Gallifrey and assisted in fighting against the Great Vampires. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[River of Time (short story)|River of Time]]'') | ||
During the war, arriving during the [[Kotturuh crisis]], the [[Ninth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] arrived on a shadow planetoid where Commander [[Rassilon]] was leading Gallifreyan forces, calling themselves Space Lords by this point. The two escaped Rassilon’s custody during an attack of [[Cucurbite]]s, with the Doctor intending to leave immediately | [[File:Coffin ship (Monstrous Beauty).jpg|thumb|left|One of the many [[coffin ship]]s used by the [[Vampire Alliance]] ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'')]] | ||
During the war, arriving during the [[Kotturuh crisis]], the [[Ninth Doctor]] and [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] arrived on a shadow planetoid where Commander [[Rassilon]] was leading Gallifreyan forces, calling themselves Space Lords by this point. The two escaped Rassilon’s custody during an attack of [[Cucurbite]]s, with the Doctor intending to leave immediately due to his fear of the war, only for Rose to be kidnapped by a primordial class vampire named [[Hugo (Monstrous Beauty)|Hugo]]. Forced to return to the Space Lords, the Doctor conspired with [[Medicus Androkan|Androkan]] to steal Rassilon's ship and go in pursuit, tracing Rose to a [[coffin ship]]. Unknown to them, Rassilon had a tracker on her ship and called for reinforcements to follow them. Aboard the Coffin Ship, the Doctor and Androkan were captured. | |||
The Gallifreyan was killed, however the | The Gallifreyan was killed, however, and the Doctor's biology intrigued [[Friar Grystok]], an acolyte of the [[Three Mad Sisters]]. He took the Doctor before them, revealing they'd turned Rose. The Doctor fended off the attacks of the Vampiric Rose, managing to send her to sleep as Gallifreyan forces attacked. The Sisters died in the attack and the Doctor instigated a revolt among the slaves they'd turned, curing their addictions with synth-blood. He ejected Rassilon’s ship to distract the Gallifreyans and helped the Coffin Ship flee, freeing the formerly enslaved Vampires from the war. Rose recovered from the vampire virus on a moon the Doctor found. They then left the Dark Times aboard [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') | ||
Rassilon rose to power on Gallifrey during the war. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') | Rassilon rose to power on Gallifrey during the war. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') According to the potentially Faction Paradox-altered account, he fought side by side with "[[Omega|the Engineer]]". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference: Shock Tactics]]'') As President, Rassilon once left the safety of the fleet to investigate rumours of a Vampire hive. He was captured by the [[Ra'ra'vis]] who forced him to perform time experiments for them. Rassilon was saved by the [[Vogan (Revenge of the Cybermen)|Vogan]] [[Jorus]] and gifted him his presidential seal. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Jorus and the Voganauts (short story)|Jorus and the Voganauts]]'') | ||
According to one account, the war began to turn in Gallifrey’s favour after Lord President Rassilon ordered [[bowship]]s into construction. Based on the findings of General [[Skellis]], the bowships were designed to exploit the Vampires' vulnerability to being impaled through the heart. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Multi-Faceted War (short story)|The Multi-Faceted War]]'') Another account suggested bowships had been created earlier in the war, when Rassilon was still a Commander, by the [[Mithras Hives]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') Bowships were given artificial intelligence, which ultimately played against the Time Lords. Some wanted compensation before attacking a Great Vampire. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Scent of Blood (audio story)|The Scent of Blood]]'') | According to one account, the war began to turn in Gallifrey’s favour after Lord President Rassilon ordered [[bowship]]s into construction. Based on the findings of General [[Skellis]], the bowships were designed to exploit the Vampires' vulnerability to being impaled through the heart. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Multi-Faceted War (short story)|The Multi-Faceted War]]'') Another account suggested bowships had been created earlier in the war, when Rassilon was still a Commander, by the [[Mithras Hives]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Monstrous Beauty (comic story)|Monstrous Beauty]]'') Historians also stated Rassilon created a line of robots, [[Raston Warrior Robot|Rassilon's Automatons]], to serve as a ground combat equivalent. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Monster Vault (novel)|The Monster Vault]]'') Bowships were given artificial intelligence, which ultimately played against the Time Lords. Some wanted compensation before attacking a Great Vampire. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Scent of Blood (audio story)|The Scent of Blood]]'') | ||
The Time Lords used [[Stake Drives]] and the twelve original [[War TARDIS]]es against the Vampires, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen]]'') and also created the [[Were Lord]]s, capable of regenerating between human and wolf forms when exposed to pulses of [[artron energy]], as soldiers. The Were Lords deserted the war. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Brightly Shone The Moon That Night (audio story)|Brightly Shone The Moon That Night]]'') The [[Patrex Chapter|Patrexes]] developed [[N-Form (Damaged Goods)|N-Forms]] to target vampirism. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (novel)|Damaged Goods]]'') | The Time Lords used [[Stake Drives]] and the twelve original [[War TARDIS]]es against the Vampires, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen]]'') and also created the [[Were Lord]]s, capable of regenerating between human and wolf forms when exposed to pulses of [[artron energy]], as soldiers. The Were Lords deserted the war. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Brightly Shone The Moon That Night (audio story)|Brightly Shone The Moon That Night]]'') The [[Patrex Chapter|Patrexes]] developed [[N-Form (Damaged Goods)|N-Forms]] to target vampirism. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (novel)|Damaged Goods]]'') | ||
Eventually, all but one of the Great Vampires — the [[King Vampire|swarm leader]] — were found and destroyed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'') The node points in the [[Spiral Politic|metastructure of history]] that were outlets to the Yssgaroth's universe were blocked and reinforced by forced-matter shells disguised as [[planet]]s — unless someone attempted to drill to the planet's core. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') These planets included the [[Althosian system]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') and [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'', ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') The idea to | Eventually, all but one of the Great Vampires — the [[King Vampire|swarm leader]] — were found and destroyed. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'') The node points in the [[Spiral Politic|metastructure of history]] that were outlets to the Yssgaroth's universe were blocked and reinforced by forced-matter shells disguised as [[planet]]s — unless someone attempted to drill to the planet's core. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') These planets included the [[Althosian system]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') and [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'', ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') The idea to hide it inside Earth came from [[Shift (Head of State)|someone]] whom ''[[The Thousand and Second Night]]'' described as neither a [[Yssgaroth|"djinn"]] nor an [[Time Lord|"angel"]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') According to the possibly Faction-altered account, "the Engineer" designed the artificial planets while Rassilon led Gallifrey's fleet in the final push against the Vampires, sealing the [[Spiral Yssgaroth|Vampire's home realm]] off from their universe. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference: Shock Tactics]]'') | ||
[[Lolita]] | The djinn could not reach the [[caldera|cauldron]] hidden within the Earth, so they mixed with [[human]] women and created the [[Mal'akh]], who laid in wait until the angels returned to take the cauldron back to Jannat. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head of State (novel)|Head of State]]'') [[Iphigenia]] was also located on a universal [[ley line]] as protection against the Great Vampires. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[So Vile a Sin (novel)|So Vile a Sin]]'') [[Lolita]] claimed to have ended the war "in a way the [[Time Lord|Pilots]] would never have noticed" shortly after her birth, at the direction of [[The Matrix|her mother]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Toy Story (short story)|Toy Story]]'') After spending years searching in vain for the King Vampire, Rassilon declared the war over. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Multi-Faceted War (short story)|The Multi-Faceted War]]'') | ||
After spending years searching in vain for the King Vampire, Rassilon declared the war over. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Multi-Faceted War (short story)|The Multi-Faceted War]]'') | |||
== Legacy == | == Legacy == | ||
Line 48: | Line 46: | ||
The war became a legend throughout the universe, with few exact details known. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') [[Vampire]] legends existed in many cultures, including [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]'', ''[[Vampire Science (novel)|Vampire Science]]'') | The war became a legend throughout the universe, with few exact details known. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') [[Vampire]] legends existed in many cultures, including [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]'', ''[[Vampire Science (novel)|Vampire Science]]'') | ||
Rassilon's involvement in the war was detailed in [[The Record of Rassilon | Rassilon's involvement in the war was detailed in ''[[The Record of Rassilon]]''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Still Need a Title! (short story)|Still Need a Title!]]'') | ||
Every [[Type 40]] [[TARDIS|time vessel]] included a message from Rassilon saying that it was a Time Lord's solemn duty to lay down his life to kill the King Vampire. The war caused such widespread loss of life that the Time Lords rejected the use of [[violence]] forever. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') | Every [[Type 40]] [[TARDIS|time vessel]] included a message from Rassilon saying that it was a Time Lord's solemn duty to lay down his life to kill the King Vampire. The war caused such widespread loss of life that the Time Lords rejected the use of [[violence]] forever. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') | ||
The term "eternal war" was later used to describe a different conflict, being used by the [[Iron Legion]], ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (comic story)|Doctor Who and the Iron Legion]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (audio story)|Doctor Who and the Iron Legion]]'') who had fought in the [[Second Time Front]] of the [[War in Heaven]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warlords of Utopia (novel)|Warlords of Utopia]]'') | The term "eternal war" was later used to describe a different conflict, being used by the [[Iron Legion]], ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (comic story)|Doctor Who and the Iron Legion]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (audio story)|Doctor Who and the Iron Legion]]'') who had fought in the [[Second Time Front]] of the [[War in Heaven]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Warlords of Utopia (novel)|Warlords of Utopia]]'') During the [[Last Great Time War]], the [[War Doctor]] stated he had been involved in struggle called the "[[Eternal war (Berserker)|eternal war]]," during which he took part in a long charge. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Berserker (audio story)|Berserker]]'') | ||
===Impact on Gallifrey=== | ===Impact on Gallifrey=== | ||
[[The Monk (The Bloodletters)|The Monk]] believed that the planet [[Gallifrey]] itself had originally orbited a single [[sun]], and it was retroactively turned into a [[binary system]] by [[Rassilon|"He-of-Many-Epithets"]] during the war with the vampires as a precaution, ensuring that the precise "interference pattern" between the light of the two suns destroyed even vampires with a resistance to ordinary sunlight. Naturally, later generations were unaware that their planet had ever had fewer than two suns. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Bloodletters (novel)|The Bloodletters]]'') | |||
When Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu returned to Gallifrey after the war, he discovered that religion had fallen out of favour and Rassilon had risen to power. He then left to guard [[Seven Planets|the final opening]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') | When Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu returned to Gallifrey after the war, he discovered that religion had fallen out of favour and Rassilon had risen to power. He then left to guard [[Seven Planets|the final opening]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'') | ||
Line 65: | Line 65: | ||
===Weapons of the War=== | ===Weapons of the War=== | ||
[[Bowship]]s remained in use by the Time Lords. They were notably utilised in the [[Last Great Time War]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Prologue (short story)|A Prologue]]'') and to exile [[Rassilon (Hell Bent)|Rassilon]] following his [[Coup against Rassilon|overthrow]] by the [[Twelfth Doctor]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Supremacy of the Cybermen (comic story)|Supremacy of the Cybermen]]'') A crashed [[Bowship (The Scent of Blood)|Bowship]] was discovered by the [[Eighth Doctor]] in [[1890s]] [[Edinburgh]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Scent of Blood (audio story)|The Scent of Blood]]'') and another was found embedded in an asteroid by [[Jenny (The Doctor's Daughter)|Jenny]]. She repaired the vessel and used it to travel in search of [[the Doctor|her father]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Lost Dimension (comic story)|The Lost Dimension]]'') | [[Bowship]]s remained in use by the Time Lords. They were notably utilised in the [[Last Great Time War]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Prologue (short story)|A Prologue]]'') and to exile [[Rassilon (Hell Bent)|Rassilon]] following his [[Coup against Rassilon|overthrow]] by the [[Twelfth Doctor]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Supremacy of the Cybermen (comic story)|Supremacy of the Cybermen]]'') A crashed [[Bowship (The Scent of Blood)|Bowship]] was discovered by the [[Eighth Doctor]] in [[1890s]] [[Edinburgh]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Scent of Blood (audio story)|The Scent of Blood]]'') and another was found embedded in an asteroid by [[Jenny (The Doctor's Daughter)|Jenny]]. She repaired the vessel and used it to travel in search of [[the Doctor|her father]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Lost Dimension (comic story)|The Lost Dimension]]'') | ||
Similar to bowships, but serving in ground operations, were [[Raston Warrior Robot|Rassilon's Automatons]]. The automatons were ordered to kill vampires and hunt down hypnotised Gallifreyans. Through bolts of steel fired through built-in weaponry, they could indeed pierce a vampire's heart. They were also programmed to simply remove the heads of their foes if that ranged attack failed. These robots developed a reputation as "the most perfect killing machines ever devised", but their name was simplified over time, becoming known as the "Raston Warrior Robots". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Monster Vault (novel)|The Monster Vault]]'') | |||
Following the war, the N-Forms' central intelligence core was downloaded and they were shut down. A surviving reactivated N-Form was eventually discovered and destroyed by the [[Seventh Doctor]] in [[London]] in [[1987]]. It claimed to have been reactivated by a signal from the future, teasing the Doctor that the war had started again without him knowing. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (novel)|Damaged Goods]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (audio story)|Damaged Goods]]'') The Doctor traced parts of the reactivation signal to the [[30th century]], where his companion [[Roz Forrester]] destroyed another N-Form activated by the [[Brotherhood of the Immanent Flesh]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[So Vile a Sin (novel)|So Vile a Sin]]'') During the [[Last Great Time War]], the Time Lord [[War Council]] sent reactivation signals across time to any surviving N-Forms. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Desperate Measures (audio story)|Desperate Measures]]'') | Following the war, the N-Forms' central intelligence core was downloaded and they were shut down. A surviving reactivated N-Form was eventually discovered and destroyed by the [[Seventh Doctor]] in [[London]] in [[1987]]. It claimed to have been reactivated by a signal from the future, teasing the Doctor that the war had started again without him knowing. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (novel)|Damaged Goods]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Damaged Goods (audio story)|Damaged Goods]]'') The Doctor traced parts of the reactivation signal to the [[30th century]], where his companion [[Roz Forrester]] destroyed another N-Form activated by the [[Brotherhood of the Immanent Flesh]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[So Vile a Sin (novel)|So Vile a Sin]]'') During the [[Last Great Time War]], the Time Lord [[War Council]] sent reactivation signals across time to any surviving N-Forms. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Desperate Measures (audio story)|Desperate Measures]]'') | ||
Line 79: | Line 81: | ||
[[File:The Great One dies.jpg|right|thumb|The death of the King Vampire; marking the final end of the Vampire War. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'')]] | [[File:The Great One dies.jpg|right|thumb|The death of the King Vampire; marking the final end of the Vampire War. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'')]] | ||
At the Time of Arising, the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Romana II|Romana]], [[Adric]] and [[K9 Mark II|K9]] arrived on the planet. They helped the inhabitants overthrow their vampire rulers and used a scout ship to impale the King as it finally awoke, completing the instructions left behind by Rassilon and thus finally ending the war. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') [[Agonal]] later attempted to resurrect the King Vampire and his servants on their planet in E-Space but was foiled by the [[Seventh Doctor]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'') | At the Time of Arising, the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Romana II|Romana]], [[Adric]] and [[K9 Mark II|K9]] arrived on the planet. They helped the inhabitants overthrow their vampire rulers and used a scout ship to impale the King as it finally awoke, completing the instructions left behind by Rassilon and thus finally ending the war. ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'') [[Agonal]] later attempted to resurrect the King Vampire and his servants on their planet in E-Space but was foiled by the [[Seventh Doctor]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'') | ||
== Other realities == | |||
[[File:Faction Paradox armour.jpg|thumb|left|[[Faction Paradox]] harnessed the bones of what they claimed to be vampirised Homeworlders from a timeline where the Homeworld lost the war. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')]][[Faction Paradox]] claimed that their [[Faction Paradox armour|iconic ceremonial armour]], made from the bones of what appeared to be vampirised [[Time Lord|Homeworlders]], retrieved from an "[[abomination's graveyard]]" accessed through the [[caldera]], originated in [[alternate timeline (The Book of the War)|a purported alternate timeline]] where the [[Yssgaroth]] won the war and [[V Factor|corrupted]] their fallen enemies. However, the Houses denied the existence of this or any other [[alternate timeline]], and even Faction experts on the Yssgaroth thought there may be more to the story. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') | |||
In [[True Lords' timeline|one]] of the timelines within [[the Axis]], Rassilon failed to defeat the Great Vampires who eventually gained a foothold on [[Gallifrey (True Lords' timeline)|Gallifrey]] itself and used the [[transduction barrier]] to block out sunlight, continuing to wage war on the people of Gallifrey now known as the [[True Lord]]s. [[Romana II|Romana]], [[Leela]] and [[Narvin]] from the prime timeline visited this Gallifrey, by which time the True Lords were led by Magistrex [[Borusa (True Lords' timeline)|Borusa]] and fighting the vampires led by Lord [[Prydon]]. Romana finally brought an end to the war by lowering the tranduction barrier, fatally exposing the vampires to sunlight. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Annihilation (audio story)|Annihilation]]'') | |||
== External links == | == External links == |
Latest revision as of 23:27, 2 August 2024
The Eternal War, (PROSE: The Pit) also known as the Vampire Wars, (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors, The Quantum Archangel, World Game) Great War against the Vampires, (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual [+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"]) Great War, (AUDIO: Zagreus) first War in Heaven, Yssgaroth campaigns, war against the Yssgaroth, (PROSE: The Book of the War) or War against the Great Vampire, (COMIC: Blood Invocation [+]Loading...["Blood Invocation (comic story)"]) was a protracted and bloody conflict fought against the Great Vampires early in Time Lord history, during the Dark Times. (PROSE: The Pit) It was part of a larger series of Eternal Wars, (PROSE: Damaged Goods) the Time Wars. (PROSE: Sky Pirates!, River of Time, et al.)
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Beginning[[edit] | [edit source]]
Because the story of the Eternal War was never recorded in the Matrix, there were varying accounts of its start. (PROSE: The Pit) The conflict was, nevertheless, remembered as one of the most important chapters within the history of the Great Houses. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
According to a transmission on Anathema that may have been influenced by Faction Paradox propaganda, the war began when Rassilon first opened a black hole in an attempt to draw power from other planes of existence. The black hole reached through to an inhabited plane, and monsters with great leathery wings and bat-like heads swarmed through the opening. (PROSE: Interference)
According to The Book of the War, the Yssgaroth escaped into Spiral Politic during the anchoring of the thread. They destroyed the machinery responsible for the anchoring, creating the caldera. (PROSE: The Book of the War) However, one account of the war showed that the fighting began before Gallifreyans had mastery over time and still called themselves the "Space Lords". (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty) The Doctor's TARDIS once displayed a "half-true" account of history in which it was Rassilon who started the war, having decided that the Vampires needed to be destroyed even though they were living off mindless creatures that they themselves bred. (AUDIO: Zagreus)
According to The Thousand and Second Night, which was written by Lolita to influence players in the War in Heaven, the "djinn" survived the destruction of their world "before the first time"; the "cauldron of creation" also survived from this "world before the world", and "Allah" filled it with an infinite black emptiness in which he could dissolve the current world and create a new one. Iblis, the leader of the djinn, wanted Allah's power for himself, so he convinced the djinn to help him steal the cauldron and bring it from Jannat to Jahannam. Allah formed his "angels" into five "great tribes" and many smaller tribes and sent them to defend the cauldron. (PROSE: Head of State)
The conflict[[edit] | [edit source]]
The ferocity and resilience of the Vampires made their defeat very difficult. (TV: State of Decay) Leading the so-called "Vampire Alliance", (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty) they drank their opponents' blood and feasted on their power. (PROSE: Head of State) Led by Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu, Gallifrey’s forces pushed the Yssgaroth back into their own universe over a thousand years, though billions of people were killed and whole star systems were destroyed. (PROSE: The Pit) The Qwerm were allied with Gallifrey and assisted in fighting against the Great Vampires. (PROSE: River of Time)
During the war, arriving during the Kotturuh crisis, the Ninth Doctor and Rose arrived on a shadow planetoid where Commander Rassilon was leading Gallifreyan forces, calling themselves Space Lords by this point. The two escaped Rassilon’s custody during an attack of Cucurbites, with the Doctor intending to leave immediately due to his fear of the war, only for Rose to be kidnapped by a primordial class vampire named Hugo. Forced to return to the Space Lords, the Doctor conspired with Androkan to steal Rassilon's ship and go in pursuit, tracing Rose to a coffin ship. Unknown to them, Rassilon had a tracker on her ship and called for reinforcements to follow them. Aboard the Coffin Ship, the Doctor and Androkan were captured.
The Gallifreyan was killed, however, and the Doctor's biology intrigued Friar Grystok, an acolyte of the Three Mad Sisters. He took the Doctor before them, revealing they'd turned Rose. The Doctor fended off the attacks of the Vampiric Rose, managing to send her to sleep as Gallifreyan forces attacked. The Sisters died in the attack and the Doctor instigated a revolt among the slaves they'd turned, curing their addictions with synth-blood. He ejected Rassilon’s ship to distract the Gallifreyans and helped the Coffin Ship flee, freeing the formerly enslaved Vampires from the war. Rose recovered from the vampire virus on a moon the Doctor found. They then left the Dark Times aboard the Doctor's TARDIS. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)
Rassilon rose to power on Gallifrey during the war. (PROSE: The Pit) According to the potentially Faction Paradox-altered account, he fought side by side with "the Engineer". (PROSE: Interference: Shock Tactics) As President, Rassilon once left the safety of the fleet to investigate rumours of a Vampire hive. He was captured by the Ra'ra'vis who forced him to perform time experiments for them. Rassilon was saved by the Vogan Jorus and gifted him his presidential seal. (PROSE: Jorus and the Voganauts)
According to one account, the war began to turn in Gallifrey’s favour after Lord President Rassilon ordered bowships into construction. Based on the findings of General Skellis, the bowships were designed to exploit the Vampires' vulnerability to being impaled through the heart. (PROSE: The Multi-Faceted War) Another account suggested bowships had been created earlier in the war, when Rassilon was still a Commander, by the Mithras Hives. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty) Historians also stated Rassilon created a line of robots, Rassilon's Automatons, to serve as a ground combat equivalent. (PROSE: The Monster Vault) Bowships were given artificial intelligence, which ultimately played against the Time Lords. Some wanted compensation before attacking a Great Vampire. (AUDIO: The Scent of Blood)
The Time Lords used Stake Drives and the twelve original War TARDISes against the Vampires, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen) and also created the Were Lords, capable of regenerating between human and wolf forms when exposed to pulses of artron energy, as soldiers. The Were Lords deserted the war. (AUDIO: Brightly Shone The Moon That Night) The Patrexes developed N-Forms to target vampirism. (PROSE: Damaged Goods)
Eventually, all but one of the Great Vampires — the swarm leader — were found and destroyed. (PROSE: Interference) The node points in the metastructure of history that were outlets to the Yssgaroth's universe were blocked and reinforced by forced-matter shells disguised as planets — unless someone attempted to drill to the planet's core. (PROSE: The Book of the War) These planets included the Althosian system (PROSE: The Pit) and Earth. (PROSE: Interference, Head of State) The idea to hide it inside Earth came from someone whom The Thousand and Second Night described as neither a "djinn" nor an "angel". (PROSE: Head of State) According to the possibly Faction-altered account, "the Engineer" designed the artificial planets while Rassilon led Gallifrey's fleet in the final push against the Vampires, sealing the Vampire's home realm off from their universe. (PROSE: Interference: Shock Tactics)
The djinn could not reach the cauldron hidden within the Earth, so they mixed with human women and created the Mal'akh, who laid in wait until the angels returned to take the cauldron back to Jannat. (PROSE: Head of State) Iphigenia was also located on a universal ley line as protection against the Great Vampires. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin) Lolita claimed to have ended the war "in a way the Pilots would never have noticed" shortly after her birth, at the direction of her mother. (PROSE: Toy Story) After spending years searching in vain for the King Vampire, Rassilon declared the war over. (PROSE: The Multi-Faceted War)
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
Historical records[[edit] | [edit source]]
The war became a legend throughout the universe, with few exact details known. (TV: State of Decay) Vampire legends existed in many cultures, including Earth. (PROSE: Goth Opera, Vampire Science)
Rassilon's involvement in the war was detailed in The Record of Rassilon. (PROSE: Still Need a Title!)
Every Type 40 time vessel included a message from Rassilon saying that it was a Time Lord's solemn duty to lay down his life to kill the King Vampire. The war caused such widespread loss of life that the Time Lords rejected the use of violence forever. (TV: State of Decay)
The term "eternal war" was later used to describe a different conflict, being used by the Iron Legion, (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion, AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion) who had fought in the Second Time Front of the War in Heaven. (PROSE: Warlords of Utopia) During the Last Great Time War, the War Doctor stated he had been involved in struggle called the "eternal war," during which he took part in a long charge. (AUDIO: Berserker)
Impact on Gallifrey[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Monk believed that the planet Gallifrey itself had originally orbited a single sun, and it was retroactively turned into a binary system by "He-of-Many-Epithets" during the war with the vampires as a precaution, ensuring that the precise "interference pattern" between the light of the two suns destroyed even vampires with a resistance to ordinary sunlight. Naturally, later generations were unaware that their planet had ever had fewer than two suns. (PROSE: The Bloodletters)
When Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu returned to Gallifrey after the war, he discovered that religion had fallen out of favour and Rassilon had risen to power. He then left to guard the final opening. (PROSE: The Pit)
One of Rassilon’s titles was "Conqueror of the Yssgaroth", (AUDIO: Zagreus) and his throne was made of the bones of giant bats. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet)
General Mirraflex, the founder of House Mirraflex, achieved notability during the war. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
By the time of the Second Doctor, Vampires were viewed as extremely scary by Gallifreyans. (PROSE: World Game)
Weapons of the War[[edit] | [edit source]]
Bowships remained in use by the Time Lords. They were notably utilised in the Last Great Time War, (PROSE: A Prologue) and to exile Rassilon following his overthrow by the Twelfth Doctor. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen) A crashed Bowship was discovered by the Eighth Doctor in 1890s Edinburgh, (AUDIO: The Scent of Blood) and another was found embedded in an asteroid by Jenny. She repaired the vessel and used it to travel in search of her father. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)
Similar to bowships, but serving in ground operations, were Rassilon's Automatons. The automatons were ordered to kill vampires and hunt down hypnotised Gallifreyans. Through bolts of steel fired through built-in weaponry, they could indeed pierce a vampire's heart. They were also programmed to simply remove the heads of their foes if that ranged attack failed. These robots developed a reputation as "the most perfect killing machines ever devised", but their name was simplified over time, becoming known as the "Raston Warrior Robots". (PROSE: The Monster Vault)
Following the war, the N-Forms' central intelligence core was downloaded and they were shut down. A surviving reactivated N-Form was eventually discovered and destroyed by the Seventh Doctor in London in 1987. It claimed to have been reactivated by a signal from the future, teasing the Doctor that the war had started again without him knowing. (PROSE: Damaged Goods, AUDIO: Damaged Goods) The Doctor traced parts of the reactivation signal to the 30th century, where his companion Roz Forrester destroyed another N-Form activated by the Brotherhood of the Immanent Flesh. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin) During the Last Great Time War, the Time Lord War Council sent reactivation signals across time to any surviving N-Forms. (AUDIO: Desperate Measures)
The last known surviving Cucurbite plunged into the magma of a newborn Earth until she was expelled from a volcano and used Varney's ancestor to fuel itself. It was destroyed in 1939 by the Eighth Doctor, Izzy Sinclair and Fey Truscott-Sade. (COMIC: Tooth and Claw)
The twelve original War TARDISes influenced their handlers to ensure their continued maintenance after the Vampire Wars. They were eventually used again a millennium later in the Krikkit War. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen)
The Were Lords who had deserted the war eventually settled in Greece in 1500 BC. They lived among humanity for thousands of year, becoming myths, and were worshipped by the early peoples of Earth. (AUDIO: Brightly Shone The Moon That Night)
Survival of the King Vampire[[edit] | [edit source]]
Having fled into E-Space, the King Vampire drew the Hydrax, a human exploration vessel from the 22nd century, through a Charged Vacuum Emboitement. It turned the three crew members into vampires and they became his servants, the Three Who Rule, on the planet where the King lay dormant. For a thousand years the Three ruled over local villages, preparing for the Time of Arising when the King would awake.
At the Time of Arising, the Fourth Doctor, Romana, Adric and K9 arrived on the planet. They helped the inhabitants overthrow their vampire rulers and used a scout ship to impale the King as it finally awoke, completing the instructions left behind by Rassilon and thus finally ending the war. (TV: State of Decay) Agonal later attempted to resurrect the King Vampire and his servants on their planet in E-Space but was foiled by the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: Blood Harvest)
Other realities[[edit] | [edit source]]
![](/w/images/Tardis_Images/thumb/8/82/Faction_Paradox_armour.jpg/285px-Faction_Paradox_armour.jpg)
Faction Paradox claimed that their iconic ceremonial armour, made from the bones of what appeared to be vampirised Homeworlders, retrieved from an "abomination's graveyard" accessed through the caldera, originated in a purported alternate timeline where the Yssgaroth won the war and corrupted their fallen enemies. However, the Houses denied the existence of this or any other alternate timeline, and even Faction experts on the Yssgaroth thought there may be more to the story. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
In one of the timelines within the Axis, Rassilon failed to defeat the Great Vampires who eventually gained a foothold on Gallifrey itself and used the transduction barrier to block out sunlight, continuing to wage war on the people of Gallifrey now known as the True Lords. Romana, Leela and Narvin from the prime timeline visited this Gallifrey, by which time the True Lords were led by Magistrex Borusa and fighting the vampires led by Lord Prydon. Romana finally brought an end to the war by lowering the tranduction barrier, fatally exposing the vampires to sunlight. (AUDIO: Annihilation)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
|