The Dark Scrolls of Rassilon were a series of creative postings about the life of Rassilon over a period from October to December 1991. They were posted to Rec.arts.drwho by someone named James Herbertson, who went by the name Rassilon. In total, 5 articles were posted, of which 4 are contained here in this archive:
DarkScroll.History
This was Part 1 of the series. It is a brief, but strange history of the planet Gallifrey and the formative years of Rassilon. There are obvious FASA influences in this, as well as those of Eric Saward, former Script Editor and writer for the show [Doctor Who].
DarkScroll.Omega
This was Part 2 of the series. It describes the life of Stellar Engineer Omega, how he and Rassilon met, and the circumstances leading to his eventual demise. It also mentions the possibility of Trans-sexual Regeneration (The changing of gender through Regeneration.) Two mysterious strangers are mentioned here, one of which is believed to be the Doctor, coming from an as yet unknown war in Gallifreyan future. Also a fourth Time Lord Academy is mentioned here.
DarkScroll.Highcouncil
This was part 3 of the series. It describes the political life of Rassilon, how he became elected President of the High Council, and also his Entombment. There is mention of the Great Vampire War and the Sisterhood of Karn here. The APC net is also explained.
DarkScroll.Matrix
This was apparently an addendum to the previous articles. It is a brief article which describes the history and creation of the Matrix. At the end of the addendum was a list of articles to come, which have been moved to this file, as it was a more appropriate forum.
DarkScroll.Renaissance
This is the story of the lives of Morbius and Salyavin in middle Gallifreyan history. It introduces formally the First Law of Time, as well as the reasons leading up to its creation. It also talks about Magnus Greel, a.k.a. Weng Chiang, and the creation of the Sontaran race. It discusses the relationship between the Minyans and the Time Lords. It introduces the Singolnians and Iconains into the Doctor Who universe, the latter being a race from Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Contagion. The Dominators and Daleks are also given a brief mention.
In addition to these articles, it is said (although I have no proof as this account was expired at the time these were posted.) that a Part 4 was written and posted to the net in early December 1991. It is believed that this contained the life stories of Morbius and Salyavin. This would mean that the first story listed in the addendum, below, would have been a preview for this Dark Scroll Part 4.
The following appeared at the end of the Addendum, Matrix Scroll:
BTW, the Borg, AND 90% of Doctor Who & Star Trek, both generations (inc the Animated Series, which I do consider Cannon.) can be united in a reasonable universal history, just wait and see how. . .
Coming soon:
The Gallifreyan Renaissance (inc. Morbius and Salyavan)
The Singolnian War (inc The Master, Doctor, and Rani)
The Doctor (inc Susan, and wife Stella!)
Earth (inc UNIT, Federation, and Empire of)
The Cybermen (inc the Cyberwars, and the Borg)
The Daleks (inc Davros, and previews of "Regeneration of the Daleks")
The Universe (inc Terminus, the Guardians, and Q)
(Preliminary outline; subject to future change.)
As can be seen, the author had intended to write 6 more stories (plus the Morbius story), and unite the Star Trek and Doctor Who Universe. Unfortunately, these subsequent articles never appeared. Although many attempts have been made to contact Mr. Herbertson to try to get information on the above future Scrolls or about the previous ones, he has apparently not responded to anyone.
If you feel you might make a difference, his address is apparently:
rassilon@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca
DARKSCROLL.HISTORY
Read at your own risk!
>From various notes while writing the Dark Scrolls of Rassilon,
[Note, TL is the year after I captured the Eye of Harmony.]
These notes were brought to me from my future self from my tomb in the dark tower, concerning the future of my home world, Gallifrey, and edited by me in the present, 1,123 years since I captured the eye of harmony.
-Part 1-
Known history:
Gallifrey was a technological civilisation with little recorded history. Therefore, little is known of our past, save for acounts from various time historian expidition. It is known that we evolved from tribal people over a two million year period. Most believe that this evolution was so slow due to the lack of a true written language until about 10,000, with the invention of the computer. (I am reminded of a story my great grandfather once told me, of the days when the radio was the most prevailent form of comunication. Memories of when I was young, and in my first incarnation.)
Having been a child of the computer revolution, I can hardly imagine life without the written word. I also remember when I was at the Prydonian academy, taking the history of our people. How we had learned to adapt to our harsh planet's enviorment by devoloping the ability to regenerate. I remember studying the effects of Lyndos on inferior life forms, and being fascinated at the regenerate forms each creature took [Lyndos is the hormone of regeneration.], some of them dying from the shock of their new body. This was the beginings of my devolopment of the Symbiotic Neuclei. I knew that if I could put the chemical Lyndos into any animal's body, I could do so with a Gallifreyan too. Of course, the high council would not agree to my expreiments, until my closest friend, Omega, was killed in a Time-Related accident. After my entombment, my experiments were abandoned, only to be continued again in the Singolnian War, by a young Patrex woman known as the Rani.
DARKSCROLLS.OMEGA
Read at your own risk!
-
>From various notes while writing the Dark Scrolls of Rassilon, 1,678,231,565 TL
[Note, TL is the year after I captured the Eye of Harmony.]
These notes were brought to me from my future self from my tomb in the dark tower, concerning the future of my home world, Gallifrey, and edited by me in the present, 1,123 years since I captured the eye of harmony.
-Part 2-
Omega:
I first met Omega at the Tarknet meeting centre on the Flasnaeos colony.
Both our parents were members of the High Council (his mother and my father.), and we, being a mear 50 and 63 years old, were sent to play in the anti-gravity playground. I remember he had a matter transmitter and was creating all types of metal fortresses for us to play in. After the meeting was over, our parents and we went to eat at the Gallifreyan Coffee House, back on Gallifrey. There Omega and I talked about school and I told him about my experiments in the use of Lyndos. He was fascinated. I remember I dared him to regenerate into a woman for his second incarnation when the time came. Omega, being the dare devil that he was excepted, and sure enough, after a faulty anti-matter experiment, he took me up on that bet.
Of course Galkik, his wife wasn't to pleased. Although when her time came to take her third form, she had her revenge. I must say, they were one of the cutest couples in gallifreyan history.
Omega, being the older among us, Graduated from the later disreputed Kalhosnian academy. Fortuneately, when Omega graduated, Kalhosnia was still the most reputible and hardest to get into of all the accademies. I always was jealous. He even graduated with a triple alpha, the highest mark available. At the Prydonian, I only recieved a double gamma; still in the top third of my class, but I have always felt I could do better. I think, most of all, my grade had to do with what I did to the Dean's pet cat. You think he'd appreciate the increased senses of the animal. Ah, well. Kind of reminds me of my one greatest fan, the Rani. In any case, after I graduated, I joined Omega in the Ministry of Astro-Physical research. (The only way I got into that presteigous establishment was due to the coaxing of Omega, who had already been there 9 years.) There we centred our research on time and gravitational anomilies. That was when I had my first experience with time travel. Two voyagers from the future came to visit us, from the time of the Singolnian war. One, known as the Doctor, worked with Omega on the development of what we later called the Hand of Omega, while I worked with the other, known as the Master on a Bio-morphic living metal which I called Vallidium.
It was to be Gallifrey's ultimate defence in it's greatest time of crisis. I had traveled with the pair to the future, to help them implement the Vallidium, however, as I have already made notes of this in the section entitled The Singolnian War,- I shall not repeat myself here. When I returned, 2 regenerations, and many years of future knoledge later, I found Omega had completed the Stellar Manipulator and was ready to stage a test. After years of pleading, I still could not convince the High Council to allow me to research into the Symbiotic Neuclei. I became worried for my dear friend's safety, knowing that this trial run could be his death. I tried to convince him to wait, atleast until I could convince the High Council to allow me to develop the Neuclei, so that he would not be drawn into the ensuing Black Hole by the Stellar-Time Wind. But he was adament.
We had been working on the problem of developing a time vehicle for almost 7,000 years now, and he wasn't about to stop now. Without his death, I could never have convinced the High Council to allow my biological research. I would never have been able to capture the eye of harmony to run our Temporal Generators. He faded quickly. He went through all seven of his remaining regenerations in a matter of seconds, just to stop the unbarible pain. Officailly, he was declared dead. About a week later, I recieved an anti-matter beam from the star which had captured him. He WAS alive. I tried to convince the High Council to help me mount a rescue mission, but they said the risk was to great, and the weren't going to make any more consessions after my Symbiotic Neuclei.
They refused to believe my message from him, and decreed that all such matters conserning Stellar Engineer Omega Kalhosnia [all Gallifreyan's take the last name from the academy from which they graduated.] are closed! Galkik commit regenerate suicide 3 months later. I shall miss you, Omega.
DARK SCROLLS.HIGH COUNCIL
Read at your own risk!
-
>From various notes while writing the Dark Scrolls of Rassilon
-Part 3-
The High Council:
My father was one of the reasons I went into politics after I developed time travel. One of the decrees he made during his 100 year reign as Lord President was that all Time Lords ar equal in the face of the law, and guilty until proven innocent. He was a staunch conservative, and when I asked him if he could convince the High Council to allow my experiments into the Symbiotic Neuclei, he outright refused.
After Omega died, I had to continue both of our research into the biological and physical side of regeneration. Unfortuneately, my work was interupted by the Great Vampire invasion. All research was stopped ad redirected to distroying these evil invaders. The Sisterhood of Karn, an ancient, but self-sufficient Gallifreyan collony of all women, were attacked first.
Many died, but the High Council chose to do nothing! It wasn't until they attacked Gallifrey itself that anything was decided to be done. I headed one of the research teams developing projectile weapons to distroy the invaders by piercing them through the heart. Of course my plan was sucessful, and the deaths of all but one Vampire, the leader, was accounted for. I was made a public hero, and was premoted to castillan, during which time, I developed the transduction barrier, to protect our planet against further invasion.
I tried to convince the High Council to use our powers to help other civilisations in need, but unfortunately, they would not. I decided to retire because of that and continue my research onto the physics of time.
In the 57 years that I had been gone, my research team had accomplished next to no advancments in temporal manipulation. Due to the instibility of Omega's experiment, we could not use his star, an no-one was brave enough to try again. By this time I had perfected my Symbiotic Neuclei, and it was just a matter of testing it. I decided it was time to take a risk. I installed the Neuclei in my brain and used the Hand of Omega to manipulate Harmony, the star nearest to the Kasturburosian system [the stellar system of Gallifrey.].
It was a sucess!
I captured the Eye of Harmony using a protective Sash which I had developed, and placed it in perfect gravitational balence at the centre of out planet. Finally, we had the power requirements nessicary for our time experiments.
Two years later, I made the first time jump in Gallifreyan history! Four minutes into the future. It was a complete sucess! Soon, the Symbiotic Neuclei was a part of every Gallifreyan's DNA, save the Shobogians, who left the citadel during the Vampire war, sick of Gallifrey's non-interfearance policy. Because of these new, awesome powers, for the first time in Gallifreyan history, a written Constitution was drawn up.
The High Council was made more responcible to the people, and a President was to be chosen to lead our new race, the Time Lords, into the beginings of a new civilisation. Following in my now-late father's foot steps, I ran for Lord President, and won by a landslide against the incumbant. I was Lord Presidnet of Gallifrey!
My first decree was to create the Celestial Intervention Agency, or CIA.
Although they were OFFICIALLY disband by my predicessor, I know that to this day, over 1,000,000,000 years since then, they are still opperating, covertly. However, power corrupts. 12,000 years of ultimate power, and nearing the end of my 12th regeneration, I refused to die. I began research into synthesising my own Lyndos, secretly. I had my birth records changed.
When I made my 13th regeneration, no-one knew that I had changed the records, they thought it was my 6th. I developed a game area. Recreation for other Time Lords. I created the Death Zone, an arena to the death, and the Time Scoop, hidden behind the High Council Conferance Chambers, access to which I had encoded in a tune in a Harp, my favourite instrument, which I had placed in the Conferance chambers as a diversion. I always won. I used another of my inventions, the D-Mat gun, to eliminate all competition, everything from the pitiful and unimaginative Rutans, to the Daleks and the Borg.
Then, some in the High Council began to oppose me. They felt I had become to powerful. Even my wife, to whom I had been married for just over 9,300 years, began to feel a change.
I became fed up with competition. I developed a Coronet to enforce my will upon others. I tried to convince Faltsia, my wife, to become immortal with me, to take my Lyndos supplements.
She refused. I tried to use the Coronet to make her, but she used the only defence possible, regenerate suicide. As she slipped away and out of her 13th, and final incarnation, she muttered to me. "You've changed, Rassilon".-
I had. But I still could not let her just dissapear into nothingness. I had her dying body chryogenically frozen. Then, I entered into the Gallifreyan internal Computer system. I took a 5 year leave of absense, as I tried to develop some was of transfering the memories of my wife into the computer. I created the Amplified Panotropic Computer Network, or APC net, a repository of all Time Lord information. To test, I transfered my knowledge into the computer.
It worked. I used the Coronet as a feed. I then linked the computer into the well-being of all living Time Lords. I installed a programme to monitor the life-signs of all Time Lords, and when one approached death, all his/her knoledge and experience would be transfered into the APC net. I revived Faltsia. As her body finally passed into inertia, her mind was absorbed. I could feel her, through my Coronet.
She was alive. I then decided I had to go. I knew I had become too powerful, so I decided to stage my own death.
A Death Zone accident. I had a tremendous moseleum built to house me. The Dark Tower.
There I remained while the other Time Lords tried to pick up the pieces of what I had left of our civilisation. With the help of the APC net, it was decided that the Death Zone would be closed form all contact. The new President used the APC net to protect the rights of the people, and not to oppress them. He also outlawed all outside contact. It was decided that Gallifrey would be moved outside of Time. Thus bloomed the universe's most stagnent civilication.
DARK SCROLLS.MATRIX
Addendum-
Re: The Matrix
Actually the Matrix was created before my [Rassilon] time, but then it was only the National Security Data Matrix, used only for data storage and governmental records. While I was Castellan, I was able to modify the Matrix to incorperate the general functioning of much of the more inportant aspects of the Citadel and Capital City (Known simply as the Capital City.), including security, ad of course the newly-created Transduction Barrier.
Later, just before my entombment, I created the APC net as a sub-branch of the Matrix Computer, as the repository of all Time Lord knoledge. The first mind I deposited in the net was my-own, to use as a core memory (The ROM, if you will, although this is rather a poor analogy.). Because the core was of my mind, the output was of the same wave pattern as my own mind. This allowed for a permanent Telepathic Link between myself and the net, which was for a long time, the only internet address on Gallifrey.
Fortuneately, becuase I knew I would need convienent access to the news for posting my Scrolls, I had a terminal installed in the Dark Tower, but that's another story.
DARK SCROLLS.RENAISANCE
>From various notes while writing the Dark Scrolls of Rassilon, 1,678,231,565 TL
[Note, TL is the year after I captured the Eye of Harmony.]
-Part 4-
The Gallifreyan Renaissance:
In the year 561,236,191 TL, one of the most evil Gallifreyans in all our history was born. Morbius.
The Gallifrey of this era was much as I had left it after my entombment. A stagnent society, clutching on to the reminaints of it's ancient glory. The planetary guard became indulant from lack of crime. The death penalty had not been used since the trials of the Pentosian Conspiracy, in the year 7,871 TL, during my reign as president.
Even the High Council became merely a figure-head. Free will had been totally lost, for the good of the society. One was born, educated, assigned a profession, and lived out ones 12 regenerations in complete complacency until one died.
It was to this world that Morbius was born. Morbius attended the Kalhosnian Academy, which at the time was still the most reputible on Gallifrey. He graduated Triple Alpha, and top of his class. In his graduation speech [It is traditional for ALL Academy graduates to give a speech upon their graduation from the academy, in all 7 academy. Usually these speeches last for days.], instead of talking about the traditional topic of ones studies and experiences, Morbius chose to attack the establishment, mocking all the traditional, introverted values of Gallifrey.
This was later to be coined "The Blue Address",- the colour blue being the symbol of Kalhosnian Academy.
Morbius' parents were both members of the High Council, and Morbius had since childhood intended to follow in their footsteps. 5 years after his graduation, Morbius was elected to the Junior Council, the local legislative house of his home province, the Yulna Peninsula. There, he reformed the government, and shifted policies to extratarestial studies using automated survey SIDRATs.
During his 12th term, Chief Council Morbius decided automated exploration of the Universe was not enough. Deciding to break Gallifreyan law, he, with a minimal crew of Anthropological researchers decided to visit a planet which Morbius had drawn a fancy to in the Orion arm of Galaxus Mutter's Spiral, planet Sol 3, also know as Earth of a time period between the 42nd and 52nd centuries. There he made contact with certain natives, including the infamous Weng Chiang, as he was later to be known in the latter half of the 19th century, to whom he secretly leaked certain aspects of Time Lord techonlogy.
At first, Morbius admired the gile of Chiang, but when Chiang tried to have him killed, Morbius plotted his revenge by keeping secret the necessity of the Symbiotic Neuclei for all time travelers. Another contact he made was with a brain surgeon named Solon.
This relationship prospered, sadistically similar to the friendship between Benito Muselini and Adolph Hitler of the mid-Earth 20th century.
Another member of this unprecedented mission was Professor Salyavin, an anthropologist who seemed to have an incredible knack for prediction the actions of others. Morbius had written to Salyavin, who was teaching at the Patrex Academy at the time, and asked him to come all the way to Yulna to help Morbius on his unique mission, due to Salyavin's interesting power.
When the research team returned to Gallifrey, Morbius was put on trial for breaking the one of the High Council Doctorine, that of non-interferance.
During the hearing, he spoke valiently for his cause of universal exploration, but in the end, it was his new friend Salyavin who obtained for him a verdict of Not Guilty. When Morbius realised Salyavin's power, he was quick to gain Salyavin's favor. Morbius put up a facade of being sympathetic to the causes and desires of Salyavin, becoming a pacifist. He used Salyavin to gain a seat on the High Council, and later to become Lord President.
President Morbius opened the time-ports of Gallifrey and started trade between other advanced civilisations, including the sisterhood of Karn, the Iconians, and the Singolnians. Gallifrey became a cultural center, with it's own unique form of arts and society. In some places, the computer music and paintings of Gallifrey became all the rage.
As the years passed, Morbius became more and more accustumed to his power. He sough, and found the Dark Scrolls, and learned of the dark secrets of Gallifrey. He learned of my trap of Immortality, and out guessed it. He started to become a menice to the people of Gallifrey. That's when he started to build his army.
He first visited his old Earth friend, Solon, who indicated to him which of the known societies of the explored universe would make the finest army. They visited Sontara, a large planet with high gravity. There they met General Sontara, for whom the planet was named, and persuaded him to help them in return for a way to conquer his [Sontara's] own people.
Using a cloning replicator, designed by Solon, Sontara cloned an army of himself and commited racial genicide of all his fellow Sontarans. Morbius also visited the Minyan people to give them what they most desired, technology, in return for an armed regiment. Likewise with the Narvanians.
Finally, Morbius had an army with which to finally conquer Gallifrey, and then, the Universe!
But first, Morbius needed one final insentive to sway all those who might follow him, the Elixer of Life on the planet Karn. By this time, the rest of the High Council was suspicious of Morbius's activities. But it was too late, Morbius had already begun the onslaught of his forces on Karn.
It took the combined force of the Time Lords, the Singolnians, the Iconians, and the decimated population of Karn to defeat Morbius, but this time, the High Council was helped, not hindered by professor Salyavin. Morbius was brought to trial, and was sentinced to complete dematerialisation, the first capital punishment in eons. Salyavin, becuase of his original support of Morbius was also tried, but his sentince was diminish to mearly imprisonment at Shada due to his eventual co-operation with the High Council.
Solon was also given a sentince at Shada, but was able to escape with the Brain of Morbius before his dematerialisation. The Sontarans abandoned the battle when Morbius began to lose, and no charges were brought against them.
However, the technology given to the Minyans by Morbius was used by the people of that planet in a great civil war. When the High Council had realised the kind of destruction caused by Morbius to alien civilisations, even the Narvanians were at the brink of destruction, and were only able to re-unify in a war against the Dominators, a race of sadistic conquers from Ptolia 7, who ruled much of the Halonad Galaxy before the Dalek invasion distroyed them in the Halonadi Push one million years later, they adopted the First Law of Time, the law of non-intervention, as the cardinal rule of Time Lord civilisation. [Before then it had just been a doctorine, and was considered to be of minimal importance or necessity.]
However, the trials also caused a resurgence of the Celestial Intervention Agency, and fortified contacts with Gallifrey's closest alies, the Sisterhood, the Iconians, and the Singolnians. As for Salyavin, he eventually escaped his prison and impersonated a member of the Capital Guard to obtain the record book of Shada, so that no-one would realise he was missing, and soon caused everyone to forget his role in the life of Morbius. He returned to Earth to atone for his sins.