For as long as marbles have existed, there have existed
MarbleZones.
They are areas outside conventional space that form the bridge between
the Netherworlds, (where marbles are
born), and your home planet of Earth,
(which is widely regarded as the universe's hotspot for marbles.) After
reaching Earth, many hundreds of millions of marbles are then shipped to
faraway galaxies, where they may be employed in everything from life
and death games to the creation of attractive
floral arrangements.
For aeons, the influx of marbles into our universe had
been made possible by the Keepers of the Marble*
- those souls brave enough to inhabit the MarbleZones. They maintained
the Great Machines and ensured that
marbles flowed freely from the Netherworlds to Earth and its neighboring
worlds. During this time, the inflow of marbles had proceeded uninterrupted.
All
were happy.
*Actually, this is the traditional name.
They were technically the Keepers of the Marbles since there
was more than one marble, but it sounded better to the ancients. And without
tradition, a mable is as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.
But such bliss is never eternal.
On one otherwise pleasant day, the celestial Keepers of the Marble were
plucked from their beds and imprisoned in Newark, New Jersey. Subsequently,
the machines that for so many millennia had carefully brought marbles
from the Netherworlds to Earth began to deteriorate.
It is not yet known who concocted this most nefarious
plan, but it was likely the plan of an ancient
and evil race; most likely one who does not like marbles at
all.
Now is the time when the Earth and other civilized worlds
prepare
to battle those who have threatened the natural order of all
things marble-related. But this concerns you little; for you are no soldier.
You and a handful of others have been recruited to rebuild
the once magnificent MarbleZone machines.
So you travel from your home world, past the confines
of your own universe, to set things right
once again. Along the way, you and others like yourself have studied for
the task that lies ahead. You were taught the intricacies of the Great
Machines. Through many multiple-choice exams, you were tested rigorously.
For years, you have prepared. And now...
...now it is time to rebuild.
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